The Kashmir issue is not being discussed at the level in the US where it should be, US Congressman
Ilhan Abdullah Omar was also given a tour of the Line of Control (LOC) in Chakoti sector. Photo: Naveed Siddiqui
Ilhan Abdullah Omar, a US congresswoman, has acknowledged that the issue of Kashmir is not being discussed in the US House of Representatives at the level it should be, but hoped that the situation will change.
Talking to local media in the Presidency of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Ilhan Abdullah Omar said, that purpose of the hearing in the House Foreign Relations Committee was to discuss the Narendra Modi administration’s anti-Muslim narrative and to discuss how this narrative leading to human rights abuses.
She hoped that her visit would pave the way for further discussions on Kashmir issue.
She further said that the condemnation, reservations and question of Kashmir issue of the people fighting for human rights would also be included in this hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee..
The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir also drew the attention of Ilhan Abdullah Omar to the demographic engineering in Occupied Kashmir and said that India had issued fake domiciles in Kashmir to 4.2 million Indian Hindus to change the proportion of population in Occupied Kashmir.
“In the current context, there is an urgent need for the international community, especially the United States, to come forward and help resolve this long-running dispute between the two nuclear powers,” he said.
According to official sources, Ilhan Abdullah Omar was also given a tour of the Line of Control (LOC) in Chakoti sector where he was briefed before and after the recent reconciliation between Pakistani and Indian forces to honor the 2003 ceasefire agreement.
On the occasion of this visit, the residents affected by the Indian shelling also gathered there before the ceasefire and told their stories of horror to the guests.
India’s response to the visit
This is not the first time that US President Joe Biden’s Somali-American Alhan Abdullah Omar, a member of the Democratic Party, has drawn attention to India’s human rights record.
In early April, she also questioned the US government’s alleged reluctance to criticize Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on human rights.
A few days after her remarks, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington was monitoring the rise in human rights abuses in India by some government, police and prison officials.
It was during the visit of US Congresswoman Ilhan Abdullah Omar to Azad Jammu and Kashmir that India strongly condemned his visit.
According to Indian media reports, a spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said, “All I can say is that if such a politician wants to pursue his narrow-minded politics at home, it is her will.”
The Indian spokesman added, “But the violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty connects us to this issue and we consider this visit is condemnable.”
The language of the spokesman should be condemned. India has already received a direct rebuke from Blinken on human rights abuses. She has a Congresswoman of the US not Pakistan. This offensive remark will not go well with the Biden Administration.
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