DR MAHATHIR Mohamad said he was sorry that his remarks against India last year had affected Malaysia’s bilateral ties with the country.

However he said he was not sorry for speaking out at the UN General Assembly meeting last year on the Kashmir issue because keeping quiet was not an option.

“I had chosen to speak out despite being aware of the potential backlash. To my mind, keeping quiet was not an option when all the telltale signs were pointing towards another situation whereby a big and powerful country imposed its will with impunity on a small and defenceless nation. 

“What transpired since my contentious speech at the UN General Assembly in September last year only served to prove what I had said was mild and to a certain degree, restrained. 

“I offer no apology for what I had said, although I am sorry that it had affected our palm oil exports to India. I don’t know if that is a high price to pay for speaking out against such injustices,” he said in his speech to remember Kashmir’s one year under lockdown since August 2019 today. 

The former prime minister also said he was freer to speak out now as he no longer held any position.

“Now that I am no more the prime minister, I take it that I can now speak without restraint and address the Kashmir issue without threats of boycotts and such,” he said. 

In a parliamentary session last October, Dr Mahathir, who was then still the prime minister, said he would not retract statements he made about the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir at the general assembly.

Dr Mahathir’s comments on Jammu and Kashmir – at the centre of dispute between India and Pakistan – drew New Delhi’s ire, with social media users even calling for a boycott on all Malaysian goods.

Meanwhile, in his speech, Dr Mahathir urged India to work with Pakistan to resolve the conflict in Kashmir, and to adhere to the advice from the United Nations.

The 95-year-old statesman said the trouble between India and Pakistan must be resolved through peaceful means. 

“We have witnessed how occupation and invasion of territories in numerous parts of the world remain unsolved for decades and their people, young and old, men and women and children suffering for decades. 

“Jammu and Kashmir are no different. It had somewhat been spared from worse sufferings while it enjoyed its semi-autonomous status. 

“With the revocation of the provision, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Jammu and Kashmir are subjected to the heavy-handedness of the occupying forces,” he said. 

Since August last year, the Himalayan region has been put under lockdown, with its residents having limited access to food, medicines and the internet. 

New Delhi, after stripping the contested region of its special status, has detained nearly 4,000 people, including political leaders, lawyers and journalists. 

Just four days ago, New Delhi imposed a curfew across Kashmir just two days before the first anniversary of New Delhi’s abolition of the restive region’s semi-autonomy. – August 8, 2020.