Sept. 28 (UPI) — In his address at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan warned of a potential “bloodbath” in Kashmir — when the curfew is lifted and millions of Muslims clash with hundreds of thousands of Indian troops.
Speaking before the 74th General Debate, Khan accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being driven by a racial ideology to cleanse his country of members of the Islamic faith.
Modi stoked tensions last month when he stripped India-controlled territories Kashmir and Jammu of their decades of autonomy and placed the mostly Muslim residents under curfew, backed by hundreds of government troops. Thousands of residents were arrested and Modi’s government restricted all communications.
Khan said Friday the curfew has likely left Muslims in Kashmir with nothing to do but get radicalized.
“What do you think the Muslims are thinking right now?” he asked. “If there is a bloodbath, there will be Muslims becoming radicals — not because of Islam, but because they see there is no justice.
“You are forcing people into radicalization.”
Khan added that anyone would take up arms in such a situation, a declaration that drew jeers from some in the Assembly crowd.
“There will be a reaction to this. Pakistan will be blamed,” Khan added. “Two nuclear-armed countries will come face-to-face … Before we head in that direction the United Nations has a responsibility. This is why the United Nations came to be in 1945. You were supposed to stop this from happening.”
Khan spoke further about Islamophobia, climate change and the siphoning of funds from developing nations.
Modi, who spoke three slots ahead of Khan, didn’t mention Kashmir at all — but did condemn terrorism and urged the United Nations to unite against global terror.
“For the sake of humanity, I firmly believe that it is absolutely imperative that the world unites against terrorism and that the world stands as one against terrorism,” he said.
