Sindh Assembly resolution condemns Indian atrocities in held Kashmir

The Sindh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed multiple resolutions to condemn the aggression of the Indian security forces against Kashmiri people in Indian-held Kashmir and the unsubstantiated allegations levelled by India against Pakistan after the recent attack on the Indian paramilitary forces in Pulwama.

A resolution condemning Indian atrocities in held Kashmir was moved by an opposition legislator of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Arsalan Taj Hussain.

The resolution stated: “This house strongly condemns the recent wave of repression and violence by Indian security forces who are shooting directly at the demonstrators in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, which have claimed lives of innocent Kashmiri people.

“This house acknowledges the continued atrocities including use of chemical weapons and pellet guns by the 700,000 occupying Indian forces which have blinded and disabled hundreds of innocent Kashmiri men and children, and that such brutal use of force can never suppress the legitimate struggle of people of Kashmir for their right to self-determination.

“This house and the people of Sindh stand in solidarity with brave people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir. “This august house calls upon international community to end its indifferent attitude and deliberate negligence of the systematic repression of Kashmiri people by the Indian forces in the occupied valley.”

Hasnain Mirza, an MPA of another opposition party, Grand Democratic Alliance, presented another resolution on the issue of Indian allegations after the Pulwama attack in Indian-held Kashmir.

The resolution read: “This house resolves to condemn the recent unsubstantiated allegation levelled by India against Pakistan. “It is clear that this warmongering and hype is being created merely to influence the upcoming elections in India.

“We stand as one nation under one flag to protect the dignity and integrity of our beloved Pakistan.” A Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan legislator, Mohammad Hussain Khan, also moved a resolution against atrocities being committed by Indian forces in Indian-held Kashmir, which was unanimously adopted by the house.

The opposition legislators wanted their resolutions on the issue of Kashmir to be taken up before a resolution from the treasury benches against the recent arrest of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani and the raid of the National Accountability Bureau at his house in Karachi.

The opposition lawmakers of the PTI also staged a token walkout from the proceedings of the house to press their point so that they could get precedence in tabling their resolution on the Kashmir issue.

Later, the opposition legislators came back after they were persuaded by some of the provincial ministers, including Saeed Ghani and Imtiaz Sheikh, to end their boycott of the proceedings.

Leader of the Opposition Firdous Shamim Naqvi, who is from the PTI, said the resolution on Kashmir issue was of much greater importance and directly pertained to the integrity and solidarity of the country. He stressed that the resolutions on Kashmir should be allowed to be presented in the house for discussion and passage before the resolution on the issue of treatment meted out to the speaker and his family.

Naqvi was of the view that Kashmir was a national cause supported by all the political circles in the country so it should get precedence in the house for discussion and passage of a resolution.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the treasury benches wanted the speaker to remain present in the house when it discussed and passed resolutions on Kashmir. However, the resolution regarding the arrest of the speaker could not be presented when the speaker was in chair as he could not preside over the session in which a resolution regarding his own self was being discussed, the CM added.

Later, the CM, on behalf of the Sindh government, expressed full support for the cause of Kashmiri people and showed solidarity with their just and peaceful struggle for their fundamental rights in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations.

He recalled that it was Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who, being the foreign minister of the country in 1960s, had most emphatically raised the issue of Kashmir before the international community. Leaders who succeeded Bhutto could not match the PPP founder regarding his commitment to the Kashmir issue, the CM maintained.

Shah said leaders till the present day gave the example of Bhutto regarding how forcefully he raised the issue of Kashmir before the rest of the world.

Several lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches spoke in the house and condemned the Indian atrocities against Kashmiri people fighting for their right to self-determination. The MPAs also warned the Indian government against committing any aggression against Pakistan as it would get a befitting response in such a case.