KARACHI:
It has been Pakistan’s principled stand that only the people of Kashmir (IIOJK, Azad Kashmir and all other associated territories) can decide the fate and destiny of their territory in accordance with the UN Charter. Any deviation or plans to change the present status of Azad Kashmir and make it a province of Pakistan for administrative control will amount to betrayal. Moreover, any plans to change the status of Azad Kashmir from its present independent autonomous state will give legitimacy to Modi’s decision to make Kashmir a part of India by suspending Article 370.
We owe the people of Kashmir their right to autonomy, it is not a favour. We must give them the chance to decide their own fate, however long it may take. We must equivocally state that Pakistan, its parliament and all its subordinate state institutions cannot make decisions on behalf of the Kashmiri people. We can only support them in their fight.
As it is, various administrations that have held power since 1954 have made compromises by relegating the Kashmir issue whenever a situation occurred. Ayub Khan did it in 1962 when he decided to ignore China’s advice to intervene and liberate the region during the height of the Sino-Indian conflict. He chose to listen to the US and the British, with whom we had defence pacts like SEATO, CENTO, etc. Zia on the other hand preferred to focus on the Afghan proxy war. During his 11-year dictatorial rule, the Kashmir dispute was put on the backburner. Musharraf did the same. It was only during Bhutto’s tenure that the Pakistan government took up the issue with zeal.
Ali Malik Tariq
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2021.
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