ISLAMABAD:Thousands rallied across Pakistan in mass demonstrations against New Delhi'sactions in disputed Kashmir, with Prime Minister Imran Khan leading the mostambitious public protests targeting India in years. The protests come weeksahead of Khan's scheduled trip to the UN General Assembly where he has vowed toact as an ambassador for the people of Kashmir, after New Delhi stripped itsportion of the Himalayan territory of its autonomy earlier this month.
Tensions havesoared between the nuclear-armed rivals since, as Indian authorities launched asweeping crackdown in Kashmir, which included cutting phone and internetaccess, placing restrictions on movement and arresting thousands, according tomultiple sources. Following repeated calls to protest Friday, thousandsgathered in the Pakistani capital Islamabad in front of the prime minister'ssecretariat, where Khan vowed to continue fighting for Kashmir until it was"liberated".
"We will standwith Kashmir until our last breath," said Khan, as he launched into ablistering attack on the Indian government, comparing his counterpart NarendraModi's administration to Nazi Germany. Ahead of Khan's speech, sirens rang outaround the country followed by broadcasts of the national anthems of Pakistanand Kashmir, while traffic ground to a halt for several minutes in solidaritywith the rallies.
Thousands morealso rallied in Lahore and Karachi - Pakistan's biggest cities - where largecrowds waved flags and chanted pro-Kashmiri slogans. "No matter what Indiadoes, no matter what Modi does, Kashmir is ours. It belongs to us and we willnot sit by as our Kashmiri brothers are oppressed by the Indians," saidSadaf Mirza, a 24-year-old university student in Lahore. The demonstrationswere the first in what will be weekly rallies held nationwide until Khan leavesfor the UN in late September.
'Under thenuclear shadow'
In the weekssince Modi issued the executive order stripping Kashmir of its autonomy, Khanhas launched a diplomatic offensive, vowing to fight India "until theend" if attacked and making occasional references to the possible outbreakof nuclear conflict. Friday's protests came as The New York Times published anop-ed by Khan, where the former cricket star warned of rising hostilitiesbetween the countries. "World War II happened because of appeasement atMunich. A similar threat looms over the world again, but this time under thenuclear shadow," he wrote.
Kashmir has beendivided between India and Pakistan since independence, and has been the sparkfor two major wars and countless skirmishes between the arch-rivals. InFebruary, the countries came close to war after a militant attack inIndian-administered Kashmir was claimed by a group based in Pakistan, ignitingtit-for-tat air strikes - the first between nuclear-armed nations.
Earlier this weekduring a summit in France, US President Donald Trump said there was no need forhim to intervene in the ensuing row between Pakistan and India sparked byKashmir, saying Modi had the situation "under control". The comments were made weeks after Trump hadpersonally offered to mediate in the Kashmir conflict during Khan's visit tothe White House in late July. India has repeatedly insisted that Kashmir ispurely an internal matter and that it does not want outside mediation, whilelambasting Pakistan's protests as "alarmist".- AFP