Siraj warns govt against compromise on Kashmir

LAHORE :Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has warned the PTI government against any ‘U-Turn’ on Indian-Occupied Kashmir, saying any compromise on Pakistan’s principled stance formulated by Quaid-i- Azam will cause an irreversible damage to the country.

Nation has been listening to mere fiery speeches lacking any action on Kashmir for 70 years, but now the Kashmir has entered ‘now or never’ situation, he said while addressing a reference in memory of JI founder and leading Islamic scholar of the 20th century Syed Abul A’la Maududi at Mansoora on Saturday.

Siraj said every freedom leader of Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK) had undergone political sentences longer than South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela but world never acknowledged it.

Siraj expressed sorrow saying when Pakistan came into being, Maulana Maududi advised the government to send army in Kashmir without delay after Muslim majority district of Gurdaspur was included in India by the Boundary Commission. “Had then government taken this advise seriously, Kashmir would have been part of Pakistan since long,” said Siraj.

Siraj said none of the rulers was able to make any courageous move to liberate millions of oppressed Kashmiri from Indian yoke. Now, he added, when Modi government had crossed all limits and was bent upon changing the demography of the disputed region, the people of Pakistan and Kashmir were at the brink of losing their patience and ready to go to any extent for freedom of Kahsmir. So, he said, it was duty of the world not to further test the patience of millions of Pakistanis and Kashmiris. He said the world should force New Delhi to immediately withdraw controversial amendments, call back its occupied forces and allow the UN mission to conduct a referendum in the region. He said people of Pakistan and Kashmir would never accept any solution other than right to self-determination. Senior journalists Altaf Hassan Qureshi, Mujeebur Rahman Shami, Dr Hussain Ahmad Paracha, JI leaders Mian Aslam, Hafiz Idrees, Hafiz Sajid Anwar and Anwar Gondal also addressed the event.

Earlier, Senator Siraj addressed the members of the JI Business Forum and said the people were worried about the deteriorating situation of the country’s economy. He said people were getting disappointed as all their hopes they pinned on the government were lost. The JI chief demanded the government immediately announce decrease in prices of basic commodities, including gas and petroleum products.