Masood calls for waging lawfare against India’s lawlessness

ISLAMABAD, July 14: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan Wednesday demanded that India should be held accountable for committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and trampling international laws, treaties, and covenants.

Addressing a conference titled “Lawfare Doctrine for Pakistan” organized by the Center for Law and Security (CLAS), the President said that the people of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir have a legal case regarding occupied Jammu and Kashmir. But despite Pakistan’s strong legal position, we are not getting the desired success because of India’s efforts to use lawfare as an instrument for legitimizing its state-sponsored terrorism in IOJK, oppression against Kashmiri civilians, and pushing for Pakistan’s diplomatic isolation.

While stressing the international law experts and decision-makers to redesign policy to win the Kashmir war, Masood said that we will have to think in what sense the Kashmiri people fighting in their self-defense and in accordance with the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions, and internationally recognized canon of self-defense were being dubbed as terrorists while the occupation troops killing innocent and defenseless people were absolved of their crimes.

“The legitimate struggle of Kashmiris is being falsely portrayed as terrorism by delegitimizing the concept of self-defense or fighting for your rights, a canon which has been recognized by UN Charters and several UNSC resolutions”, he added.
He maintained that India’s heinous attempts were not confined to Jammu and Kashmir alone; it was also using the FATF to cripple Pakistan economically. “India is hatching conspiracies against our nuclear program, and is overtly and covertly attempting to sabotage the strategic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative,” he added.

He went on to say that since the Indian actions in IIOJK in August 2019, the term lawfare has been frequently used in Pakistan, but now this must not be used merely in speeches and as a reference. Instead, our experts on international law should sit together and prepare a strong case against India to ensure the protection of the national and strategic interests of Pakistan and Kashmir.
“For the past five years particularly after August 2019, we have been literally in boot camp learning about the lawfare. We have done so many seminars, webinars, discussions, and I would say that now is the time to put into practice what we have learned”, Khan asserted.

He said that Pakistan’s long-awaited “Absolutely Not” doctrine which it has applied in response to the US demand must not be a tool to seek an economic bailout from China. “We must adopt the path that Pakistan offers economic bailout to Pakistan itself,” he added.

The seminar was also addressed by former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen. Zubair Mehmood Hayat, former Pakistan Law Minister Ahmed Bilal Soofi, Chairman Governing Body of the Center for Law and Security Faisal Mushtaq, and others.