Tariq Butt

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that the Indian government’s “fascist tactics” in occupied Kashmir “to smother the Kashmiri liberation struggle will fail miserably.”

The premier, who has been tweeting regularly in support of Kashmiris after the Indian government stripped the people of occupied Kashmir of their autonomy, said: “The fascist, Hindu supremacist [Narendra] Modi government should know that while armies, militants and terrorists can be defeated by superior forces, history tells us that when a nation unites in a freedom struggle and does not fear death, no force can stop it from achieving its goal.”

“That is why the Hindutva exclusivist creed of the Modi-led government with its fascist tactics in IoK will fail miserably in its attempt to smother the Kashmiri liberation struggle,” Imran said in another tweet.

A black day was observed across Pakistan on Thursday to coincide with India’s Independence Day celebrations, to condemn the unilateral move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to strip occupied Kashmir of autonomy and raise voice over continued suppression of the Kashmiri people by Indian security forces.

Under the aegis of various political parties and organisations, rallies were staged in Islamabad and other cities of the country as well in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu Kashmir.

The government has launched a crackdown on sale of Indian movies and banned airing of advertisements for India-made products on television channels in the wake of tensions over the situation in India-held Kashmir.

“We have banned Indian advertisements and launched a crackdown on CD shops to confiscate Indian movies,” said Firdous Ashiq Awan, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information.

She said the interior ministry had already started a crackdown on Indian movies in the federal capital and it would be expanded to other parts of the country soon in collaboration with the provincial governments. “Today the interior ministry raided some compact disc shops in Islamabad and confiscated Indian movies.”

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has prohibited airing of advertisements for India-made products on television and radio networks.

The regulator recalled that it had withdrawn permission for airing Indian channels and content on the direction of the Supreme Court issued in in October 2018.

Despite downgrading diplomatic ties and suspending trade with India in response to the scrapping of the semi-autonomous status of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is carrying on with the construction of the Kartarpur Corridor and a delegation comprising ministers of the Indian state of Punjab is expected to visit the country for talks on the project.

The Indian delegation will be headed by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a minister of Indian Punjab and the chief of the committee formed by the Indian government for the corridor. It will also comprise three other ministers. This delegation will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and the Punjab governor.

Officials the chief minister of Indian Punjab, Amarinder Singh, has written a letter to Imran Khan requesting that work on the corridor should continue despite the escalation of tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of the recent developments concerning Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He also sought a meeting of the ministers of Indian Punjab with Pakistani officials. The delegation is likely to arrive in Pakistan via Wagah border between Aug.22 and Aug.28.

The delegation would reach Pakistan between Aug.22 and Aug.28 but the final date would be announced after the prime minister’s and Buzdar‘s confirmation.

“We want the Pakistani prime minister to welcome the first batch of Indian pilgrims reaching Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor on Nov.8,” he said.

Pakistan’s initiative to start the construction of the corridor was described as a “major step”.

Pakistan has completed over 90% work on the corridor including the construction of the main road and bridge from Zero Line to Gurdwara Sahib ahead of its launch in November.

The Kartarpur crossing will link Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.

The corridor, once operational, will provide visa-free access to Sikhs in India to their holiest Shrine located inside Pakistan. This will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since their independence in 1947.