World ignored Kashmir due to India's booming market, says Imran

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan demanded that India must lift the “inhuman curfew” in Kashmir, as he raised the issue during his maiden address at the UN General Assembly on Friday (September 27). Speaking at the 74th session of the UNGA, he also warned India of the consequences if a face-off ensues between the two South Asian rivals.

PM Khan blamed the world community for overlooking the Kashmir issue due to their prospects in India’s booming market. “The world has not done anything (on the Kashmir issue) because India has a huge market of 1.2 billion people. Sadly, material prevails over humans,” reports quoted him as saying.

Besides, Khan also spoke on the issues of Islamophobia, money laundering and climate change. He said that Islamophobia has grown at an alarming pace since the 9/11 attacks, reported news agency PTI.

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The Prime Minister said that Islamophobia is creating divisions against the community in some countries and that billions of Muslims were living as minorities following the 9/11 attacks. “Islamophobia is creating divisions, hijab is becoming a weapon; a woman can take off clothes but she can’t put on more clothes. It started after 9/11 and it started because certain western leaders equated Islam with terrorism,” PTI quoted Khan as saying.

He further questioned the use of the term ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ and said there’s only one Islam. He added that the usage of the term has caused Islamophobia and pain for other Muslims. “What message does this (the term) send? How is a person in New York going to distinguish between moderate Muslims and radical Muslims?” Khan asked.

Khan claimed marginalisation of the Muslims in European countries leads to radicalisation and that “some of the terrorists were from marginalised Muslim communities.” “We Muslim leaders have not addressed this issue. The Muslim leaders all became moderates and our government coined a phrase ‘enlightened moderation’,” he said.

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The Prime Minister’s remarks came a day after he announced that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have decided to jointly launch an English language Islamic television channel to correct misperceptions and confront the challenges posed by Islamophobia, the report said.

“Misperceptions which bring people together against Muslims would be corrected; issue of blasphemy would be properly contextualised; series and films would be produced on Muslim history to educate/inform our own people and the world; Muslims would be given a dedicated media presence,” he was quoted as saying.

The Pakistan Prime Minister also pointed out that all religions have individuals carrying out radical acts. “The basis of all religions is compassion and justice which differentiates us from the animal kingdom,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)