Lawmakers urge Kashmir policy rethink
Former PM calls for a joint session on Kashmir with Pakistani parliament.
MUZAFFARABAD:
Opposition lawmakers in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday demanded a review of the Kashmir policy and discontinuation of dialogue with India until New Delhi accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory.
“Any kind of dialogue at any level with India, at this crucial juncture, will be akin to back-stabbing the Kashmir liberation movement which has entered a decisive phase,” former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said while taking part in the debate on a resolution regarding the Kashmir situation. Khan urged the house to demand a joint session with the Pakistani parliament for devising a foreign policy that has Kashmir at its core.
Taking part in the debate, former speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir criticised Prime Minister Sardar Attique Khan on his recent trips to the US and Europe, describing his meetings with foreign leaders as mere “photo sessions.”
Qadir said premier Khan was planning another trip to Brussels which may cost the exchequer Rs4-5 million.
This, he said, could be compared to the claims made by the minister for public works that his department does not have enough cash to purchase bulldozers in order to open blocked roads in the Neelum Valley.
Earlier the speaker constituted a house committee to assess the damages caused by the recent spell of floods. The house will meet again on Thursday.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2010.
Opposition lawmakers in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday demanded a review of the Kashmir policy and discontinuation of dialogue with India until New Delhi accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory.
“Any kind of dialogue at any level with India, at this crucial juncture, will be akin to back-stabbing the Kashmir liberation movement which has entered a decisive phase,” former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said while taking part in the debate on a resolution regarding the Kashmir situation. Khan urged the house to demand a joint session with the Pakistani parliament for devising a foreign policy that has Kashmir at its core.
Taking part in the debate, former speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir criticised Prime Minister Sardar Attique Khan on his recent trips to the US and Europe, describing his meetings with foreign leaders as mere “photo sessions.”
Qadir said premier Khan was planning another trip to Brussels which may cost the exchequer Rs4-5 million.
This, he said, could be compared to the claims made by the minister for public works that his department does not have enough cash to purchase bulldozers in order to open blocked roads in the Neelum Valley.
Earlier the speaker constituted a house committee to assess the damages caused by the recent spell of floods. The house will meet again on Thursday.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2010.