Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday termed the revocation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on Aug 5, 2019 a “strategic blunder” by Indian premier Narendra Modi, saying that the only conclusion of the Kashmir issue would be the valley’s freedom.
The premier was addressing a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of India’s move to annex the disputed valley.
He said that after listening to speeches by the Assembly members, he got the impression that they were “feeling a bit hopeless”. “I believe God is putting Kashmiris through a phase that will end in its freedom,” he added.
The prime minister further said that Modi had revoked Article 370 on the basis of four assumptions. “Modi won the elections by playing the ‘hate card’ and after winning the elections, he decided to expand that base by revoking Kashmir’s status.
“His win with a heavy majority gave him the confidence to do this and he received massive support from his Hindutva base for the Kashmir step. Second, he made the assumption that Pakistan would not do anything about it because it sought friendship with India. He thought Pakistan would keep quiet because we needed India. There was arrogance behind all of this,” he said.
“Modi knew that India is a big market in the world right now and the international community would want to keep good relations with it. India thought that the world community would keep silent because it needed it to counterbalance China.
“The biggest false assumption that Modi made was that he thought that by posting 800,000 soldiers in the valley, he could strike fear in the hearts of the Kashmiris and then India would be able to change occupied Kashmir’s demography. India thought that when it showed its full might, the Kashmiris would surrender,” the premier said.
“I think Modi made a strategic blunder.”
