Frank Pallone: “I rise today to discuss the latest episode in a troubling, ongoing pattern by the military regime in Pakistan to provoke…”

“I rise today to discuss the latest episode in a troubling, ongoing pattern by the military regime in Pakistan to provoke a crisis in Kashmir and to essentially pick a fight with India with results that could be destabilizing and devastating to the entire region and the entire world. The Pakistani government, a military junta that overthrew the civilian government in a coup last October, declared last Saturday, February 5, Kashmir Solidarity Day. Pakistan's military strongman leader, General Musharraf, visited the Pakistani-administered area of Kashmir and encouraged the terrorist forces there to continue their Jihad in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir. That same evening, according to an account from the Indo-American Kashmir Forum, a band of gun-wielding terrorists sought out Kashmiri Pandits or Hindus in the village of Telwani and opened fire on two families belonging to the minority Hindu community. Three Pandits, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed and many others were injured. Mr. Speaker, this is the true face of the so-called liberation campaign being waged by so-called freedom fighters for years in Kashmir. It is a violent terrorist campaign, pure and simple. Now Pakistan's support for this violent campaign has been laid bare for all the world to see. Pakistan has always acknowledged its political and moral support for the insurgency in Kashmir, but evidence clearly shows that Pakistan's support runs much deeper.”