Economically-strong Pakistan can ensure Kashmir freedom: PM

Shehbaz says IMF scrutinising every book, subsidy; hails national unity on Kashmir cause

MUZAFFARABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the nation and political leadership of the country to make efforts to make Pakistan economically and politically stable in order to free Kashmir from the Indian yoke.

Addressing a special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJKL) on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity Day, the prime minister said the country’s economic challenges were enormous and called for shunning all political differences in the national interest.

“We will have to become an economic power for the freedom of Kashmiris,” the prime minister told the AJK lawmakers. “As Pakistanis, we must shun political differences and work together to secure the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people,” he added.

The prime minister said that Pakistan's financial challenges were serious. Referring to the ongoing review of the national economy by a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, Shehbaz said that the lender was looking into every subsidy.

“The IMF is looking into each book of the ministries of finance and commerce,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said. “Everyone will have to come together to deal with the difficult situation. If Kashmiris are to achieve freedom, Pakistan will have to become an economic power.”

“Kashmiris are rightly looking towards Pakistan and Pakistan has to repay this debt and fulfil its responsibility. If we shun inconsistency in our words and actions, we can reach our destination. “When a society moves with unity, its goals are achieved.”

The prime minister squashed rumours about delaying the UN-promised plebiscite in Kashmir for 20 years. “There is no truth in what is being said about postponing the referendum. There can’t be a bigger conspiracy than this, no politician or no military man can think of that, consultation is a separate thing.”

The prime minister said it was regrettable that divisions were apparent in society, but in Muzaffarabad, AJK and in Pakistan, all the political parties, their leadership and the assembly members were in unison, which reflected the national unity that certainly perturbed India.

For the last 75 years, Shehbaz said, the blood of innocent Kashmiris was spilled mercilessly In IIOJK. He also referred to a gory incident in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in which a child was seen sitting on the chest of his slain grandfather with melancholic look.

“The whole world witnessed the heart-wrenching spectacle,” the prime minister said, adding that thousands of Kashmiris had been subjected to cruelties and brutalities unleashed by Indian occupation forces while thousands were martyred.

He recalled that in 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi deprived IIOJK of its special status, turning the whole occupied valley into an open jail. However, he added that this barbaric and inhuman treatment of the Kashmiri people would not last for long.

The mothers, sons and children in Kashmir had given huge sacrifices with valour. He assured that Pakistani people and all the political governments always raised their voice for the Kashmir cause and wholeheartedly supported it.

The prime minister referred to events in Sudan, North Ireland and East Timor, which had been divided on religious and political basis. In Bosnia, the world’s conscience woke up when thousands were killed and mass graves were unearthed, he added.

On the one hand, these scenes moved the world while on the other, efforts were being made to equate the aggressor with the victims in IIOJK, the prime minister regretted. He stressed that the Kashmiris were right in raising the questions as to why the issue lingered on for the last 75 years.

Earlier, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas and other members of the assembly highlighted the Kashmir issue, the heroic struggle of the Kashmiri people and their sacrifices. They also expressed their gratitude to the government of Pakistan for expressing solidarity with the Kashmiri people.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz met a delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). During the meeting, Shehbaz emphasised that the entire Pakistani nation was standing shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brothers in their struggle for freedom.

He said that he had exposed the atrocities and brutalities committed by India against the Kashmiri people at different world fora. The prime minister called for forging of unity in the national interests. He expressed that the freedom of Kashmir was not far off if they continued this unity on national issues.

Earlier, the prime minister said in a tweet that the people of IIOJK were waging a relentless struggle of epic proportions to realise their dream of freedom from the Indian yoke. “It is my faith that their dreams will soon see the light of day,” the prime minister posted.