BJP leader dragged out of International summit: Here's why
In an embarrassing turn of events, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Jolly was forcefully escorted out of the Asia Pacific Summit 2019 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for interrupting Pakistani leader Qasim Suri's speech on Jammu and Kashmir. A now viral video of the incident has surfaced, wherein Suri can be seen making controversial statements about India's northernmost territories. Here's what went down.
100,000 Kashmiris martyred, thousands missing and raped: Suri
Suri, the Deputy Speaker in the Pakistan National Assembly, made serious allegations regarding human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley. "I want to direct your attention toward the human rights violations in Kashmir. Almost 100,000 Kashmiris have been martyred and thousands are missing," he alleged. He further added that, "More than 11,000 women have been raped. Over 8,000 unmarked graves have been found."
Suri alleged extrajudicial killings and civilian torture in Valley
Further, Suri mentioned that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded usage of pellet guns, extrajudicial killings, and torture of the civilians by the Indian Army in Kashmir, following the government crackdown in the Valley, this year.
An enraged Jolly walked toward stage, started shouting
Evidently, Suri's statements enraged Jolly, who, while intervening the speech, got up from his seat and walked in front of the stage, shouting, "Kashmir is not an issue of this conference... What is this? This is wrong!" Subsequently, security personnel rushed toward Jolly and dragged him out of the hall. Meanwhile, Suri continued speaking, despite the drama.
You can watch the video of the incident here
Pakistan has repeatedly been raising Kashmir issue at International forums
Jolly's unsolicited behavior notwithstanding, this is not the first time that Pakistan has raised the Kashmir issue at such a forum. Ever since the abrogation of Article 370 by New Delhi in August, several Pakistan leaders, including its Prime Minister Imran Khan have alleged atrocious human rights violations in Valley, at various international platforms. However, India has maintained that it is an "internal matter."
Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah said normalcy restored in J&K
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing several contentious issues in the Rajya Sabha, assured that normalcy has been restored in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that newspapers, TV channels, government offices, and banking services, have started operating in the area. He further claimed that no civilian has been killed in the Valley, despite media reports alleging otherwise.
