Imran Khan Talks of 'Commitment' to Minority Rights Even as Pak-Based Terror Group Continue Attacks on Kashmiri Civilians

As Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the corridor reflects his government’s commitment to minority rights and interfaith harmony. The corridor is a visa-free border crossing that connects the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to India.

The Pakistani prime minister went on to attack India and called the Indian government’s mindset “greatest hurdle towards peace in our region”.

Moeed W. Yusuf, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor joined the chorus and added that the troubling developments on minorities in “our eastern neighbourhood should be a wake-up call for international community.”

These remarks by the Pakistani leaders come close on the heels of recent civilian killings in Kashmir by terrorists having alleged links with Pakistan-based terror groups. In a second killing in the last 24 hours, a Kashmiri salesman in the old city area of Srinagar was gunned down on Monday evening. The killing is the 13th targeted killing in Kashmir since October 1, which includes five non-local labourers.

The Resistance Front (TRF), an arm of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. While Imran Khan often speaks on the rights of minorities and ‘persecution of Kashmiris’, he has not said anything about the targeted killings of civilians that have been linked to Pakistan-based terror groups.

An exclusive video accessed by CNN-News18 showed undeniable proof of Pakistan’s involvement in the recent incidents of terror in Jammu and Kashmir. The video purportedly shows a Pakistan handler, from terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, training a Kashmiri militant on how to load and unload new, sophisticated weapons.

As India observed October 22 as a ‘Black Day’ in Jammu and Kashmir to mark Pakistan’s invasion of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, the Pakistan government, observed a black day on October 27. While the reason for India observing this day as a ‘black day’ is to mark Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir only two months after India’s Independence in 1947, Pakistan marked the day on 27th to push its agenda on Kashmir. The foreign office had written to all heads of missions in Islamabad of other countries, except for New Delhi, on Friday regarding direction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out programmes to observe October 22 as a ‘black day’.

But Pakistan has few takers in the international community. The global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Pakistan on the ‘grey list’ and urged the country to do more to investigate and prosecute senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups involved in terror financing. The grey-listing negatively impacts the relationship of the concerned countries with international funders including banks and financial institutions that take note of FATF rankings.

India has faced repeated attacks from Pakistan-based terror groups. The infamous 9/11 attacks were carried out by 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives including Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab. It killed at least 175 people. Pakistan has been involved in many other attacks inside the Indian territory including Pathankot attacks and the attack on the convoy of Indian security personnel in Pulwama.

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