Kashmir-based journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh raised the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, 22 October, while addressing the Congressional sub-committee hearing on human rights in US. She slammed the global human rights activists and the world press for “ignoring” the “nefarious” activities of Pakistan.
Addressing the American Congressional sub-committee hearing on ‘Human Rights in South Asia,’ Singh also raised the killings of journalist Shujaat Bukhari by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists and the outfit’s involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“The fundamental point that I am trying to make is the victims in Kashmir are the ones who have been killed and massacred by Pakistani sponsored terrorists. The number of Kashmiri Muslims who have been killed in Kashmir is immense and they have been victimised by the Pakistani terror state,” she said, as quoted by ANI.
“The 30 years of Islamic jihad and terror in Kashmir perpetrated by Pakistan has been completely ignored and overlooked by the world press,” she added.
“There are no human rights activists and press in the world which feels it’s their moral obligation to talk about victims of Pakistani terror in Kashmir,” she added, saying that the western press always depicted a “distorted reality of Kashmir.”
Mentioning the killing of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari, Singh said that he was shot for reporting the activities of Pakistan in the Valley.
“The victims of such perpetration are my Kashmiri Muslim friends, including Shujaat Bukhari, a senior journalist and a peace activist who believed in resolving Kashmir through dialogue between India and Pakistan. He went from city to city across the world trying to convince the powerful players that Kashmir needs peace. But on June 14, 2018, he was shot dead right outside his office in Srinagar by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the same terror outfit banned by the United States that also perpetrated the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks,” Tikoo added.
“Why did they kill him? Because Shujaat wanted Pakistan to end violence and human rights abuse in Kashmir. They killed him because he wanted peace,” she said.
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