Sirajul Haq rejects statement made by foreign minister regarding revival of trade relations with India

LAHORE, March 25 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq has rejected the statement made by the foreign minister regarding the revival of trade relations with India.

He emphasized that the nation would not entertain any form of relationship with the neighboring country at the expense of the blood of the Kashmiri people.

“We will adamantly oppose any trade or other engagements with India until the Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with the United Nations resolutions,” he stated during a media interaction on Monday, prior to departing for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. In the meantime, JI vice-emir Liaqat Baloch has assumed the role of acting emir.

He asserted that India has been complicit in the bloodshed of the people of Occupied Kashmir, citing its unilateral revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status five years ago, in violation of international and bilateral agreements.

He condemned India’s incarceration of Kashmiri leadership, along with its perpetration of human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings of Kashmiri youth. Furthermore, he decried India’s policy of granting citizenship to Hindutva adherents to alter the region’s demographic composition, thereby diminishing the Muslim population.

Expressing dismay at Islamabad’s silence and lack of resolve in addressing Indian transgressions in the occupied territory, he also criticized the government’s failure to champion the cause of Palestine, where innocent lives are lost due to Israeli aggression in Gaza. He admonished Muslim leaders worldwide for their inaction and reliance on Washington to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, urging them instead to take tangible steps to aid the Palestinians and to boycott Israeli goods.

He contended that a government established through a rigged mandate would not be capable of resolving the country’s myriad challenges. He affirmed Jamaat-e-Islami’s commitment to continue advocating for the rights of the Pakistani people.