ATLANTA (TIP): “The US Hindu Alliance (USHA), representing 3 million Hindus in America, strongly denounces Turkey‘s desire to intervene in the internal affairs of India. We also ask the Government of India to strongly reject Turkey’s offer for mediation in the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan”, said a May 1 press statement from the organization.

“On the eve of his two-day trip to India, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested that India should be open to a multilateral dialogue on the issue of Kashmir, in which Turkey would be willing to play an important role.

Such statements only add to worsen the law and order condition in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and promote greater antagonism against India. It is this type of statements by Muslim leaders and organizations outside of India that is fueling the hatred towards Hindus and India among Kashmir’s small but active Muslim separatist population.

“When Turkey continues to occupy Arab territory that had been part of Syria and incorporated the Hatay province into the Republic of Turkey just as Pakistan has occupied parts of Jammu & Kashmir, it has no moral right to offer such mediation services to India. Even if its motives are benign and it has moral authority, the Kashmir dispute is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and no other country has the right to interfere and further vitiate the atmosphere.

“The dispute between India and Pakistan involves the annexation of territory Pakistan had seized through force, which India has consistently referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and its illegal transfer of some of the same territory to the People’s Republic of China.

‘It is a well known fact that Pakistan had conducted a decades long proxy war against India using its homegrown Jihadi terror groups. This has destroyed the image of Islam and Muslims worldwide. As the leader of a prominent Islamic country, Turkey has the obligation to stop terrorism emanating from the Pakistani Soil. We hope Prime Minister Erdogan will genuinely pursue a policy against Jihadi Terrorism everywhere as Turkey also had suffered losses due to terror attacks on its own soil”.