Daily Times

The PTI-favoured President in Azad Kashmir has used his discretion to appoint nine honourary advisors to work on Kashmir. Eight in the list are from his tribe. It has no merit and has not been received well in the community.

Barrister Chaudhary Sultan Mahmood is a law-knowing person and has remained involved in drawing huge crowds for political protests in London, Geneva, and New York. Failure to convert one such crowd as a roller skate for his leader Bilawal Bhutto in London cost him his berth in the PPP. This activity has served as a useful optic for home politics but it has no bearing on the UN template on Kashmir.

None of these nine appointments are recognised by the Constitution Act 1974 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Under Section 11, the constitution recognises only one Advisor, named as Plebiscite Advisor. Use of discretion has its restraints. President or the Prime Minister in Azad Kashmir could use discretion, only, after exhausting their Constitutional Duties. In addition, discretion has to be exercised justly, correctly, and in good faith.

We had a similar experience with the work of the ex-President of Azad Kashmir. Masood Khan, during Pakistan’s Presidency of the UN Security Council in January 2013, failed to pull up Kashmir in the 16 meetings, 18 consultations, four resolutions, one presidential statement, and six other statements made to the press. (UN SC Document S/2013/248 dated April 26, 2013).

The main cause of suffering in the Indian occupied Kashmir is the manner of politics that has emerged in Azad Kashmir.

As President of Azad Kashmir, he introduced a nine-point formula to resolve the question of the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. These nine points were never discussed in the AJK Assembly and as such had no relevance to the UN template on Kashmir. Despite Masood Khan’s (Government’s) failure during the Presidency of UN SC Nawaz Sharif Government chose him as President of Azad Kashmir.

It is important to point out that AJK and the Government of Pakistan have assumed shared duties towards the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore the success or failure on the question of self-determination of the people of Kashmir has to be audited about the role of the Government of Pakistan.

It is evident that we have set the Kashmir compass to fail. India is on the move to deepen its occupation of the part under its administration. The main cause of suffering in the Indian occupied Kashmir is the manner of politics that has emerged in Azad Kashmir.

It is interesting to point out that political parties in the Indian administered part (now occupied) have defended their indigenous character. National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), and Awami National Conference (ANC) in particular remain unwilling to sign off to any non-State political party. Political parties and leaders in Azad Kashmir have signed allegiance to political parties in Pakistan. It remains at variance with article 257 of the Constitution of Pakistan and even disqualifies these AJK politicians to negotiate under article 257.

An allegiance to PPP, PMLN, MQM, or any other Party in Pakistan is used to ride on the shoulders of these non-State parties and be rehabilitated in power. It has been seen that a party that is in power in Islamabad, makes it easier for its satellite in AJK to return to power or at least remain as a strong contestant for harvesting favours. There is a general impression that Kashmir is an intra-disciplinary and intra-agency subject. Even then we see that the Kashmir compass is set so wrong and corruption in Azad Kashmir spread so wide.

India has not stopped at its action of 5 August 2019. It has continued doing unbelievable things in the part under its control. PMLN Government in Azad Kashmir has been replaced by the PTI Government. PMLN AJK sat on huge financial resources and political authority. It did all that it desired to do under the sky, except, to perform by the Constitutional Duty or by UN template on Kashmir.

PTI AJK Government has not started any better. The appointment of 9 discretionary advisors by the President and the clueless administration of the new PTI Prime Minister, is bad news for the Kashmir case. One could say with authority that the Government of Azad Kashmir and political parties (acting as satellites for political parties in Pakistan) have abandoned the Kashmir case and have turned their backs on the people suffering in the Indian administered (now occupied) part of Kashmir.

After revoking the special status of J&K on August 5, 2019, the presence of India in Kashmir is illegal and an occupation. The PTI Azad Kashmir Government is bemused in proving the PMLN Government wrong and guilty, while PMLN AJK is engaged in its internal wrangling after the defeat in the election. The first press release of the re-organization Committee has expressed faith in Nawaz Sharif and there is no mention of its future role in vacating the Indian action of 5 August 2019 or seeking any relief from the UN under UN template on Kashmir or from OIC under its commitment of December 1994 of providing the humanitarian support to the people of Kashmir.

It is deeply disturbing that on December 27, New Delhi (Government of India) and the J&K administration held a real estate summit in Jammu (the first of its kind) “to encourage people from across the country to buy land, or a second home, in Jammu and Kashmir.” The summit was organised jointly by the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs and the J&K administration, the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Summit (2021).

Any such purchase by a non-Kashmiri (non-permanent resident) was barred under the “special status” of Jammu and Kashmir. 39 Memorandum of Understandings, were signed; 19 deal with the construction of residential homes. These MOUs change the laws to allow external investment in J&K – including the purchase of non-agricultural land.

A similar event will be held in Srinagar in May next year. “Under the new J&K Development Act, the term ‘being a permanent resident of the State’ as a criterion has been omitted, paving the way for investors outside J&K to invest.” “As a result, any citizen of India can buy non-agriculture land in J&K.”

Land laws in Kashmir have been changed. The change allows to re-classify agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Unfortunately, the intra-agency arrangement on Kashmir has failed to re-set its compass to serve the interests of the people subjected to a new occupation and repression by India and to ensure that AJK Government serves the interests envisaged under UNCIP Resolutions and UN template on self-determination. The political parties in AJK should be stopped from riding on the shoulders of political parties in Pakistan. All should be made subservient to article 257 of the constitution of Pakistan.

The writer is President (Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights).