Thousands in Houston decry Modi govt?s illegal steps on IoJ&K: FM Qureshi

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday night said thousands of Pakistanis, Kashmiris, Sikhs, human rights activists and participants from other Muslim countries had converged in Houston to condemn the  Modi government's illegal and unilateral steps on  the Indian occupied  Jammu and Kashmir (IoJ&K).The peaceful protesters mounted a demonstration   outside the stadium in Houston, where the Indian prime minister along with US President Donald Trump was addressing a gathering, denouncing atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir.Talking to the media here, the foreign minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan as an ambassador for the Kashmir cause would attend the UN General Assembly session.He would apprise the world body about the ongoing Indian atrocities, and Narendra Modi’s unjustified and illegal steps which violated the UN resolutions and the international laws, the minister added.The prime minister, he said, would also apprise United States president that the picture painted by Indian Prime Minister Modi over the IOJ&K was not correct because the situation had not been returning to normalcy rather it had become very critical.With Modi’s further illegal steps, the situation could further aggravate. Qureshi said even saner voices were raised inside India where a segment of the society considered Modi’s acts as violation of the Indian constitution.Qureshi to a query replied that a huge number of people had also submitted applications for holding a peaceful demonstration outside the UN building during Modi’s address and according to reports, they were given the permission.About the prime minister’s engagements, the foreign minister said Ambassador Khalilzad had shared the outcome of his negotiations with the Taliban.Later, Senator Lindsey Graham, one among the four senators who had written letters to President Trump over the worsening situation in the IOJ&K, also met the prime minister.He was urged to keep raising the issue of innocent people of Kashmir who had been under complete lockdown for the last 48 days.The US Congress had an effective role to play for the people of Kashmir, he added.Moreover, the prime minister would also meet President International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an organization which was not being allowed to operate in the occupied Kashmir.The Kashmiris were facing hardships in getting medical treatment, the hospitals were running out of drugs, moreover, issuance of death certificates were being declined, the minister said, adding that he had already raised this issue with the head of World Health Organization.

source https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/530491-huge-protest-in-houston-decrying-modi-govts-atrocities-in-iojk