Aarti Tikoo: 'Pak-sponsored terror in Kashmir ignored and overlooked'

Aarti Tikoo, Senior Indian Journalist of Kashmiri origin, on Tuesday, highlighted issues of Pakistani terror victims in Kashmir and stressed on fact that human rights activists and western press conveniently chose to igre 30-years of terror in Kashmir. Speaking during US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on 'Human Rights in South Asia', she said, " victims in Kashmir are ones who have been killed and massacred by Pakistani sponsored terrorists. number of Kashmiri Muslims who have been killed in Kashmir is immense and y have been victimised by Pakistani terror state".

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'World press igred 30 years of Pak-sponsored terror in Kashmir'

During hearing, Aarti Tikoo highlighted that western media h presented a distorted version of Kashmir without proper context and historical understanding.

Condemning media for its biased approach, she said, "re are human rights activists and press in world which feels it's ir moral obligation to talk about victims of Pakistani terror in Kashmir." journalist asserted that current misrepresentation of Kashmir by Western Media helps narrative of Pakistani perpetrators and t victims in Kashmir.

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Shujaat Bukhari encounter by LeT

She also gave an account of several prominent Kashmiris being victims of Pakistan sponsored terror in past. To support her argument, she cited killing of senior Kashmiri journalist and peace activist Shujaat Bukhari by hands of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). " 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 world trying to convince powerful players that Kashmir needs peace. But on June 14, 2018, he was shot de right outside his office in Srinagar by LeT, same terror outfit banned by United States that also perpetrated 2008 Mumbai terror attacks," Tikoo said. 

"Why did y kill him? Because Shujaat wanted Pakistan to end violence and human rights abuse in Kashmir. y killed him because he wanted peace," she ded. 

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journalist also spoke about or victims of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, including incident of local Kashmiri businessman Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir, who was killed on August 29 by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists because he fearlessly opened his shop defying orders of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). She reminded Committee that JeM is same terror group responsible for kidnapping and beheing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002. "Jaish, since last two months, has been issuing posters, warning Kashmiri Muslims t to resume ir rmal lives," Tikoo told Congressional hearing.

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(With ANI inputs)