India, Israel resorting to identical tactics to change demographic composition of Kashmir, Palestine: Mahatir

Islamabad: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Muhammad on Friday, drawing parallels between Kashmir and Palestine issues, said India was resorting to the same tactics that had been employed by Israel to suppress the voice of people of occupied areas over the decades.

He said India was now attempting to radically change the demographic composition of the occupied Jammu & Kashmir by settling non-Muslim outsides on the same pattern the Israel patronized the settlers to occupy the Palestinians’ lands over the years.

“India is attempting to change the demographic composition of the State of Jammu & Kashmir by settling non-Muslim outsiders in the Muslim majority areas in the same way the Israeli settlers have forcefully evicted Palestinians from their homes in the land grab activities sanctioned by the Tel Aviv regime,” Dr Mahatir, in his video message played at an event organized by the Pakistan High Commission in Malaysia to mark the Kashmir Black Day 2023.

He said India’s revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s autonomy unilaterally four years ago saw the deployment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the illegally occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir. “Along with that, atrocities were committed, while placing the whole population under siege.”

He said, “We have also heard reports of how India is attempting to change the demographic composition of Jammu and Kashmir.” Dr Mahatir said the Kashmir Black Day marked the beginning of the occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir by India since 1947. It had indeed been a very long time since the occupation started and the recent treatments of India on the occupied territories “do not reflect that it plans to reconsider its occupation let alone end it anytime soon. “In fact, India is forcefully bullying any opposition to its occupation while at the same time tightening its grip on these territories.” 

 He said,”The ruthless regimes proclaim to be advocates of democracy while they commit apartheid. They express anger and disgust when their victims retaliate and hit back at them, usually on minute scale, disproportionately compared with their vicious attacks. “They label freedom fighters as terrorists, hiding the fact that their apartheid policies, genocide and ethnic cleansing activities for decades cannot, but spawn aggressive retaliation from those occupied.”

Using the same playbook, he said, India was justifying its invasion and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir as part of an effort to eradicate alleged militants and terrorists and to protect its border. He also called for exposing the cruelties, the atrocities and the hypocrisy of the self-anointed guardian of global morality when they were actually the perpetrator of evil and backers of greater evil.

 “It seems their hypocrisy and cruelties are bottomless as when we think we had witnessed the worst there is in mankind, they come up with atrocities we can never imagine before.” Addressing the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Mahatir said, “We remember you and we feel for you. We pray for your deliverance and may Allah liberate you from the tyranny.”

 With respect to recent development in Palestine, the former Malaysian PM said right now, the world was watching in horror as Israel unleashed its military might on helpless Palestinians. Israel also intended to choke Palestinians in Gaza out of existence by cutting off all basic and essential supplies, and at the same time suggesting that civilians in Gaza move out of the occupied territories, he added.