India’s propaganda machine

INDIA has once again shown to the world that when it comes to twisting facts and churning out propaganda, a few countries can compete. Its latest statement claiming that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, is an integral part of India and demanding that Pakistan vacate what it calls illegal occupation, is yet another exercise in deceit. The reality is starkly different: Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory and it is India not Pakistan that maintains a heavy military presence in the disputed territory, enforcing control through coercion and draconian measures. For years, India has attempted to project an image of normalcy over illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, but the ground reality tells a different story. International human rights organizations, journalists and observers have time and again raised concerns regarding the situation in IIOJK where the local population continues to resist and suffers under relentless human rights violations. Pakistan, in response to India’s latest claims, has rightly dismissed them as baseless and called India a global leader in tendentious propaganda. The Foreign Office emphasized that India’s rhetoric on GB cannot divert attention from its grave and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK. It reaffirmed that the only just and durable solution lies in the faithful implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, which guarantee the Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices. It is also for the international community to ensure that promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir are fulfilled. Only a fair and impartial plebiscite, conducted under UN supervision, can give the Kashmiri people the chance to live free from oppression and make their own choice about their future. Until that day comes, India’s propaganda will continue to make it a laughing stock on the world stage. Wor