India trying to change population ratio in Kashmir, says Yousaf Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in Senate and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday said India was trying to change the population ratio in Kashmir.

“If India wants to restore relations with Pakistan, then it should reverse its move of August 5, 2019, through which it repealed the illegally occupied Kashmir’s autonomous status,” Yousuf Raza Gilani said addressing a Senate session in Islamabad. He said the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of Kashmiris.

Read more: Shahbaz slams international community for inaction on India’s Aug 5 move

He said India had been oppressing Kashmiris for more than seven decades. The Indian state’s violence had reached dangerous levels and it was engaged in genocide of Kashmiris, he maintained.

The Pakistan Peoples Party senator said his party activists like former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto would become a voice of Kashmiris. He said peace was not possible in the South Asia till resolution of the Kashmir conflict. He said his party stood in solidarity with Kashmiris.

He demanded from India to release all political prisoners in Kashmir, lift curfew, stop changing demographic character of Kashmir and restore Kashmir-related confidence building measures.

Meanwhile, Yousaf Raza Gilani also condemned the recent terrorist attack on the armed forces in Panjgur and Naushki districts of Balochistan.

Read more: LoC ceasefire agreed due to Pakistan’s concerns for safety of Kashmiris: ISPR

He said the Kashmir issue could not be resolved without the right to self-determination. He announced that the entire nation would celebrate the Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 5. He said the relation between Pakistan and Kashmir was of brotherhood and humanity.