Security personnel at the Asia-Pacific Summit in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh escorted out BJP leader Vijay Jolly after he angrily protested the speech by Pakistan National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri when the latter raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue.
Misusing the platform, Suri spoke about the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution by India in Kashmir and referred to the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. An enraged Jolly got up from his seat and rushed towards the dais, shouting, “Kashmir is not the issue of this summit…this is not right. I want to protest.”
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In a video clip, he was seen pointing and yelling at the participants sitting in the front row, when security guards came and took him outside the hall.
Later, Jolly said he had protested the Pakistani delegate’s speech because it was full of lies and far from the factual situation in J&K. ”The Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly made baseless allegations against the Narendra Modi Government, the Indian Army and other institutions in India which forced me to register my protest,” he added.
Jolly said as a patriotic citizen of India, he strongly condemned the misuse of the forum by the Pakistani delegate to present a false narrative on J&K.
He said he had made it clear to other delegates attending the conference that since 1947, Kashmir has been an integral part of India and elections were being held there every five years.
”I am proud that I did my duty as an Indian at the conference…even the Cambodian Government later agreed that this international conference is not the right forum to raise bilateral issues between India and Pakistan,” he added.
The conference is being attended by about 900 delegates from 40 countries. The theme of the meet is ”Addressing the Critical Challenges: Peace, Reconciliation, Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Value.”