Daily Times

The successful culmination of general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has rekindled hope in people living across the Line of Control that the liberated areas would serve as a true base-camp for the Kashmiris’ ongoing liberation struggle and play a key role in exposing Indian brutalities in the occupied territories.

People in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir while appreciating peaceful conduct of general elections in AJK, have expressed hope that the Kashmir cause would remain a subject of prime importance for the new government, and under the vision of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who declared himself as the ambassador of Kashmiris.

The Jammu and Kashmir National Front, based in the Indian illegally occupied area, appreciated the peaceful conduct of general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and termed it a healthy development to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in the state.

In a special chat with APP’s AJK reporter through social media from the occupied Srinagar on Tuesday, a spokesman of the party expressed optimism that Kashmir cause would remain a subject of prime importance for the new government.

“Since Prime Minister Imran Khan had declared himself the ambassador of Kashmiris, we hope that the new government in AJK will not let down the people of the occupied Kashmir who have been reeling under the brutal oppression of India,” he said while responding to a question.

He said it was incumbent upon the new government to play its much-needed role in promoting and projecting the Kashmir cause at international level besides exposing India’s brutality in Kashmir.

The spokesman referring to the elections said, “It was heartening to see that our brethren in the liberated territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir use their franchise to choose representatives of their own choice by exercising their democratic right in a congenial atmosphere free from cohesion and external intervention.”

The process, he hoped, would culminate to a peaceful transition of power, which he said was the essence of democracy.

The spokesman of JKNF extended heartfelt felicitations to the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and said it was now the responsibility of the winning party to work painstakingly for the uplift of the economically downtrodden segments of the society.

He hoped better living conditions would be created by implementing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of a peaceful, prosperous Kashmir.

The spokesman also hailed the Election Commission, and law enforcement agencies for their services in holding of peaceful elections in the region.

Meanwhile, the forum of civil society activists from IIOJK, appreciated the holding of peaceful elections in Azad Kashmir.

Stressing the need for the revival of the Base camp’s role the forum expressed the hope that the new democratic dispensation would play its role in reviving the liberated territory’s role as a true base-camp for the Kashmiris’ ongoing liberation struggle.

Lauding Pakistan’s continued support to Kashmiris’ legitimate cause the forum while citing the abysmal human rights situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir urged the winning party to discharge its moral and legal obligations viz-a-viz Kashmir dispute that has now assumed dangerous proportions.

“We are optimistic that the new government in the AJK would move beyond the political rhetoric and discharge its duties in protecting the rights of hapless Kashmiris who are reeling under the yoke of Indian imperialism”, the forum said.

It termed the holding of election as yet another milestone in the parliamentary history of the AJK and expressed the hope that the democratic transition would go a long way in improving the lives of common people in the region besides projecting the Kashmir cause at global level.

“The PTI’s victory in the polls would provide a new impetus to the ongoing liberation struggle in the Indian occupied Kashmir,” the forum said in a statement.

“We hope that the new government would leave no stone unturned in advancing the Kashmiris’ noble cause for which they have rendered unprecedented sacrifices,” the statement said.

The Forum congratulated the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir for exercising their democratic right to elect the representative for new legislative assembly. It also hailed the EC authorities and law enforcement agencies’ role in holding the polls in a peaceful manner.