Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan took to Twitter to say how "puzzled" he is over the sharp contrast in international media coverage of the situations in Hong Kong and Kashmir while squarely blaming the press for not highlighting the situation in Kashmir properly.
He claimed that the media paid much attention to the ongoing Hong Kong protests while surprisingly avoided giving importance to the "dire human rights situation" in Indian-administered Kashmir.
I am puzzled as to how international media continues to give headline coverage to Hongkong protests but ignores the dire human rights crisis in IOJK - an internationally recognised disputed territory illegally annexed by India with 900k troops imposing a siege on 8mn Kashmiris
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 11, 2019
Khan, who returned from China on Thursday, chose to highlight the issue hours ahead of the crucial second Informal Summit to be held between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China has already extended its full support to Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. In a joint statement, it has said: "The Kashmir issue is a historical dispute, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements."
China has already expressed its opposition to India's unilateral action on 5 August to strip the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state and split the region into two federally administered territories. It has said the decision scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir "complicates the situation".
Pakistan Prime Minister Khan in his Tweet has said the communications blackout and curfew in Kashmir since 5 August is a growing humanitarian crisis.
"For over two months there has been a complete blackout of communications, thousands imprisoned, including the entire spectrum of political leadership and children, and a growing humanitarian crisis. In Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir 100 thousand Kashmiris have been killed over 30 years of fighting for their right to self-determination," he added.
India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads over Kashmir since they attained independence from British Colonial rule in 1947. While the two neighbours both claim the entire territory, they administer separate parts of Kashmir.
