Punjab CM Usman Buzdar asks world community to take notice of Indian atrocities in held Kashmir

LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Tuesday said convening United Nations Security Council session to discuss the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) was a foreign policy achievement of the PTI government.

In a statement issued here, he said that the situation in Jammu & Kashmir required immediate attention of the international community as lockdown of the Valley by the Indian occupational forces had been continuing for the last 163 days. The worst human rights violations were being committed by the Indian government in Occupied Kashmir and oppressed Kashmiris had been forced to live a miserable life confined to their homes, he added. The chief minister regretted that depriving patients of treatment facilities was the worst cruelty. On the other side, he added that the Indian army was continuing genocide of Kashmiris.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Tuesday presided over a meeting at his office here to review operational and maintenance contract of Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project.

The meeting decided to forward the operational and maintenance contract to the Law Department for legal opinion. The chief minister said that matters relating to the contract should be settled according to the rules, adding that the government wanted to operationalise the project at the earliest for benefit of people. Usman Buzdar said fare would be fixed keeping in view the purchase power of common man and final approval would be accorded by the Punjab cabinet.

The secretary transport briefed the chief minister that a Chinese company NORINCO International has won the operational and maintenance contract. Progress was being made speedily and the test run was going on successfully, he added. Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, MD Punjab Masstransit Authority and secretaries of finance and transport departments attended the meeting.