Daily Times

MIRPUR [AJK]: The Kashmiri leaders hailing from both sides of the line of control called upon the international community to redouble its efforts to resolve the lingering dispute that has been the main cause and consequence of rights violations in the region.

Addressing a mammoth solidarity rally at D-Chowk in the federal metropolis late Thursday, the AJK leadership across the political spectrum expressed their solidarity with Kashmiri masses who have been relentlessly reeling under the Indian state terrorism. Taken out from the National Press Club the rally was led by the AJK president Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary, AJK President office told media Thursday night.

The rally was attended by a large number of Kashmiris settled in twin cities Rawalpindi/Islamabad and other areas. Whereas a sizable number of the participants travelled from different districts of Azad Kashmir to Islamabad to join the rally.

Kashmiri leaders while expressing their commitment to the Kashmiris’ just cause made it clear that the peace and stability in South Asia were inescapably linked to the settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Kashmiris, they said, want a just and peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and the universally accepted principle of the right to self-determination.

In his speech, the AJK president Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary said that the leadership of Azad Kashmir unequivocally condemns and rejects whatever decisions the Indian government has unilaterally taken on Kashmir since 5th August 2019.

Kashmir, he said, is a disputed territory and no piece of legislation by the Indian parliament can change the region’s disputed status. In order to bring material change in the region, he pointed out that Indian authorities have issued fake domiciles to 4.2 million Hindus so that the proportion of the population could be changed in the region. These wicked conspiracies being hatched against Kashmiris, he said, were meant to install Hindu Chief Minister in Kashmir.

Referring to Modi’s repressive policies, Barrister Sultan said, “BJP government’s hostile policies in Kashmir were being criticized and condemned all across the world. “Rising tide of communalism, Islamophobia, and persecution of minorities by Hindu extremists have left India virtually isolated at global stage”, Barrister Sultan said adding that Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi admitted it publicly. Barrister Chaudhary on the occasion congratulated the people and leaders of all parties for making the solidarity rally a success.

The rally, he said, has sent a positive message that Kashmiri leadership regardless of their schools of thought were united on a single platform on the Kashmir issue. He said that today’s rally was organized in the backdrop of decisions taken during the All Parties Kashmir Conference.

He declared that a similar kind of rally will be held in Muzaffarabad in the third week of March. He said that more steps will be taken in the future to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level. In the next phase, he said, public rallies and protest demonstrations against India would be organized in important world capitals including London, New York, Brussels, Paris and other European countries to expose Indian brutalities in the occupied Kashmir. Highlighting the Base Camp’s role, he said, “Azad Jammu and Kashmir is the base camp of Kashmir’s freedom movement”.

Lauding the sacrifices of ancestors, the president said that the region of Azad Kashmir was liberated by our forefathers after rendering great sacrifices. Others who attended and addressed the rally included Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Former Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, APHC leader Muhammad Farooq Rahmani, President PPP Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, Former Prime Minister Sardar Atiq Khan, President PTI Azad Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, President JK PPP Sardar Hassan Ibrahim, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir Dr. Khalid, Abdul Rashid Turabi, Maulana Saeed Yusuf And Maulana Imtiaz Siddiqui and other political leaders attended in large numbers.