The former “president” of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), Masood Khan, is the newly appointed Pakistani ambassador to the United States, replacing Dr. Asad Majeed Khan.
The appointment of Masood Khan as the ambassador to the US does nothing to salvage Pakistan’s plummeting global image. The role played by the Islamic country in aiding the Taliban in establishing their rule in Afghanistan has been discussed and acknowledged worldwide. The appointment of Khan proves that the Islamic regime in Pakistan is not interested in trying to shed its pro-jihad reputation.
Masood Khan has a history of shamelessly defending jihadis and supporting Islamic jihad terrorist organizations in the West as well as the East.
In 2017, the US State Department had designated Hizbul Mujahideen as a terrorist organization. Masood Khan wasn’t happy about it. He not only expressed his support for the Islamic jihad organization, but also condemned the US’s sanctions against Hizbul leader Sayed Salahuddin as “unjustified.”
Five years later, while serving as the “President” of the POK, on the fifth anniversary of the death of a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani (who was taken down by the Indian army), Khan lamented, “We grieve today for Burhan Wani. He lives on… in our hearts. He sacrificed his life for a cause.” Khan eulogized the neutralized jihad terrorist “role model for freedom fighters across the globe.”
This wasn’t the first time that Masood Khan mourned a terrorist. Masood believes that the Hizbul is not a terrorist organization and paid homage to Junaid Sehrai, another top commander of the jihad organization who was taken down by the Indian forces. He also praised them for “offering the supreme sacrifice of their lives for the freedom of their motherland.”
The US State Department designated Harkat-ul-Mujahideen founder Fazlur Rehman Khalil a terrorist in 1997. In 2014, he was recognized as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. But at the All Parties Kashmir Solidarity Conference that was held in Islamabad in 2019, Khan happily shared the stage with Khalil.
The South Asian Islamic organization Jamaat-e-Islami has also received Masood Khan’s backing. Death squads of this Jamaat worked with the Pakistani military to carry out genocide in Bangladesh during the 1971 liberation war. The leader of the Jamaat’s Bangladesh chapter, Motiur Rahman Nizami, was hanged by the Bangladesh government in 2016. But Masood Khan has nothing but praise for the Jamaat and its jihadis; he has “paid tribute to Jamaat Islami Pakistan for playing an active role in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, despite the fact that it had paid a heavy price for supporting the Kashmir cause as evident by its ban in IOJK,” through his official website.
Remember Aafia Siddiqui? Infamous as “Lady al-Qaeda,” the 49-year-old Pakistani is imprisoned at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Texas, serving an 86-year sentence, She was convicted of multiple felonies, including assault and attempted murder of a US soldier, and was also named a courier and financier for Al-Qaeda by Pakistani Islamic jihadist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during an FBI interrogation after the 9/11 attacks.
Khan has demanded that the US government release Siddiqui. In a tweet in May 2020, he said, “The US Government can find a way to free Aafia Siddiqui. Washington has negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban, once considered inveterate enemies. Room must now be created for Aafia’s freedom. Long overdue. Will be a bonanza for winning hearts and minds.”
Pakistan’s new ambassador to the US also proudly associates with the Turkish intelligence-linked charity, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). The IHH is a designated terrorist organization in Israel, Germany and Netherlands, and is accused of providing arms to al-Qaeda groups in Syria and Libya. Reportedly, the Turkish NGO is one among many entities involved in funding anti-India activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Khan has won repeated praise from the Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), a proxy of the Jamaat-e-Islami in the US. The HHRD is suspected of funding the activities of the Al-Khidmat Foundation, which is also linked to the Hizbul Mujahideen. Hizbul Mujahideen has openly partnered with the Islamic jihad terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
That Khan extends his support to anti-India lobbying groups is no shock, but Americans must be reminded that Khan speaks highly of recognized jihadis such as Shabir Shah, Yasin Malik and has great reverence for the father of the Kashmiri jihad, Syed Ali Geelani.
That, dear Americans, is the ambassador sent to your free land by Pakistan.
Wellington says
He should be declared persona non grata, not even allowed into the USA, let alone being accepted as Ambassador. But this won’t happen in the Brandon Administration.
mortimer says
Agree. Any Pak politician who encouraged or supported the Taliban should be banned.
Infidel says
Honestly, after 2011, the US should have terminated all diplomatic ties w/ Pakistan. That they didn’t shows how stupid our leadership – both Dem and GOP – is
savvyone says
Yes, I remember Aafia Siddiqui. She is a very ruthless Jihadi, and should never be let out of prison. Let’s keep an eye on that issue, However, knowing Biden and his handlers, we will only learn of her release after the fact.