‘All political forces of Pakistan unanimous in support of Kashmiris’

AJK president says the people of Pakistan consider Kashmir as part of their body and their own home

ISLAMABAD:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that the Kashmir issue does not belong to any particular party but it is the common agenda of all political forces of Pakistan.

He made the remarks while speaking to a delegation led by Chairman Parliamentary Kashmiri Committee Shehryar Afridi in Islamabad on Monday.

The AJK president lamented that the domicile of Kashmir was being granted to Hindu residents of Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi in order to displace the Kashmiri people from their homeland and usurp their rights.

"We will have to give up defensive policy and respond to India in the same language which it uses against Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan," he added.

“The decision of the parliamentarians to celebrate Eidul Azha with the Kashmiri people in Muzaffarabad carries the message that the people of Pakistan consider Kashmir as part of their body and their own home.”

President Masood went on to say that the abrogation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) autonomous status on August 5 last year had fully exposed New Delhi's ulterior motives and created new vistas for the Kashmir committee to draw up a comprehensive policy to highlight the plight of Kashmiris across the world.

"This is by virtue of the valiant struggle of the Kashmiri people that Kashmir issue has once again emerged as an international issue," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Afridi said that the presence of Pakistani parliamentarians with the Kashmiri brethren in Muzaffarabad to celebrate Eid carried a message that all Pakistani political forces including parliamentary parties stand shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brethren and they considered the pain of the Kashmiri people on both sides of the Line of Control as their own pain.

While strongly condemning the Indian attempts to change the demography of Occupied Kashmir, repression against the Kashmiri people, and shelling on the innocent civilians of Azad Kashmir along the Line of Control, he said that these tricks are designed to hide the worst violation of human rights and other unlawful actions being taken in IIOJ&K.

Other members of the delegation included Parliamentary Secretary on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Sobia Kamal Khan, Senator Mohammad Ali Khan Saif, MNAs Mohammad Akram, Asma Qadeer, Naurin Farooq Ibrahim Khan, Uzma Riaz, Kashmir Committee Director General Nasim Khalid and other officials.