Pakistan urged to drop ‘apologetic’ Kashmir policy

LONDON: The former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, has asked Pakistan to shun lame duck and apologetic policy and get in tune with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir, who want an aggressive advocacy for the right to self-determination.

Addressing a convention of his Azad Jammu and Kashmir People’s Muslim League (PML) in Birmingham, he said the road to peace in South Asia and the wider world goes through Kashmir, not through Afghanistan. “Solve the problem of Kashmir and end the sufferings of the Kashmiris at the hands of Indian occupation,” said Sultan in his keynote speech.

He said the former government, led by Pervez Musharraf, had adopted a wrong-headed approach about the Kashmir issue and never cared for the wishes of the people. The former dictator interfered in the affairs of the independent working of Azad Kashmir and damaged the unique position of the base camp for Kashmir freedom.

He alleged that Musharraf was in cahoots with India to divide Kashmir, but said the Kashmiris would never accept the division of their motherland. Just the right to self-determination according to the UN resolutions would be acceptable to them, he insisted.

He lamented that the base camp of freedom movement was lurching from one crisis to another, corruption was on the rise, merit had lost its value and nepotism was destroying the credibility of the democratic institutions.

He compared the current state of affairs with his own five years of rule when, according to his claim, there was complete stability, merit and transparency. He said the crisis in Azad Kashmir was taking a new but dangerous dimension and it showed that the people of the AJK wanted change of the stewardship to bring the real leadership and progress.

Andrew Griffiths, Conservative MP for Burton, said he was proud to be a friend of the Kashmiris and thanked their support, especially that of Barrister Sultan, in his election to the British parliament.

He announced to visit held Kashmir to look into the situation of human rights and to be able to better represent the standpoint of the Kashmiris.Richard Fuller, Conservative MP for Bedford and Kempston, spoke of his surprise to see a large number of young Kashmiris attending the rally and talking about the freedom of Kashmir. He said the problem of Kashmir must be resolved for peace in the world and for the world to move on from one of the oldest disputes.

Shabana Mehmood, who became Britain’s first Muslim MP, said she had promised her constituents that all her energies would be dedicated to speak up for the rights of the Kashmiris. She urged the participants to involve the female population in their campaigns for better representation and to give them opportunity to play their role.

MP Khalid Mehmood said only Barrister Sultan Mehmood was able to gather thousands of people and the enthusiasm of his supporters was a show of his leadership skills and the people’s trust in his abilities to represent their views better than others.

He said Sultan had the unique honour of highlighting the issue of Kashmir at the international level and for constantly reminding the world of their obligation to solve the issue of Kashmir to end the sufferings of the Kashmiris.