Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry
Over a period of two years and two months it has been a sombre epoch that our Kashmiri brothers and sisters remain under a ruthless military siege.
It is also a proclamation that the self-sacrificing spirit of freedom, imbued in the people of Kashmir by their forefathers remains undiminished.
No amount of brutal oppression and atrocities by Indian Armed Forces has been able to dent the very resolve of Kashmiris.
Kashmiri diaspora was inactive due to the coronavirus situation and after August 05, 2019, unconstitutional Indian measures in occupied Kashmir gave birth to a new situation and there was a huge increase in Indian state terrorism.
In this situation President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry decided to speak out against the ongoing atrocities in occupied Kashmir and raise the Kashmir issue before the international community, for which he visited the United States in September and the United Kingdom and Europe in October.
During his visit to the United States, he led a demonstration of Kashmiris on the occasion of Modi’s address to the UN General Assembly.
In addition to addressing the OIC Contact Group meeting, including a meeting with the UN Secretary General, the OIC Permanent Representative to the UN and meetings with US Congressmen, senators and think tanks and the international media on the current situation in occupied Kashmir, he gave briefings on the Kashmir issue.
While he was sworn in as a President of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, Sultan promised to raise the issue of Kashmir aggressively on the world stage because Azad Kashmir is the base camp of independence.
During his visit to the UK, he attended a function on behalf of Lord Mayor City Council Leeds at Leeds City Council and also addressed a function of Kashmiris in Birmingham on the occasion of Azad Kashmir Foundation Day on 24 October.
Afterwards, he addressed press conferences at various events in the British cities of Luton, Milton, Connaught and Slough.
Similarly, he also addressed the British members of Parliament at the House of Commons in London on 26th October at the invitation of Debbie Abraham, Chairperson of the All Party Kashmir Committee in the British Parliament. More than 40 members of Parliament attended the meeting.
Similarly, in London, he met with Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative Friends of Kashmir Chairman James Daly to brief them on the Kashmir issue and the ongoing Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir.
Later, he met with members of the European Parliament and other senior EU officials, including the Kashmiris protesting in Brussels, Belgium, and called on the EU to appoint a representative on Kashmir.
He participated in a demonstration of Kashmiris in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the capital of the Netherlands, while he also participated in a huge demonstration of Kashmiris in Paris, the capital of France, and met with French think tanks there: He gave a detailed briefing on Kashmir issue.
Fortunately, the State President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry is not only a captivating personality but also a legendary and eminent politician of Azad Kashmir who is rendering his matchless services to apprise the international community about the continued carnage and gross human right violations committed by 900,000 Indian troops deployed in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The Veteran Kashmiri leader, Quaid Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry has carried out five million marches including one Million March from Trafalgar Square in London to Ten Downing Street in 2014, the second Million March in front of the United Nations in New York in 2015 and third March in Belgium’s capital Brussels in the year 2016 in front of the European Union and the European Parliaments.
