Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had special place in their hearts for Kashmir and Kashmiri people.

He expressed these views while presiding over two separate meetings of PPP Parliamentary party Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and PPP AJK at Zardari House, Islamabad on Thursday.

AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan, Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid, Speaker and deputy Speaker of AJK Assembly and cabinet ministers were present in the meeting. Faryal Talpur, former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PPP general secretary Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, PPP information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira were also present on the occasion.

Bilawal said he will follow policy of his predecessors on Kashmir issue as late Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had taken several measures for the betterment for Kashmiri people. It was PPP, which established a university and a medical college in AJK, he said, adding he will soon visit Kashmir and will meet his Kashmiri brothers and sisters whose struggle for right of self-determination is historic.

The PPP believes in people to people contact and soft borders for the relatives living on either side of the border, said the PPP chairman, adding his party is not in favour of personal or business visits of rulers of India and Pakistan. He asked party workers to apprise people of the alleged pre-poll rigging by PML-N and hold public gathering in this regard.

The PPP AJK lauded the contributions of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, former president Asif Ali Zardari, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Faryal Talpur for supporting the struggle of Kashmiris for the right of self-determination.

The meeting welcomed the resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue process and stressed that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved by resolving Kashmir issue according to the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

The PPP AJK also appreciated the contribution of PPP leadership for democracy in Pakistan and strengthening federation by NFC award and restoration of 1973 Constitution in its original form. It also expressed confidence on the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari. However, it condemned the “humiliating attitude” of the federal government towards the AJK government and its intentions of providing funds to PML-N AJK candidates from national exchequers for alleged pre-poll rigging and also condemned the “derogatory language” used by federal ministers about people of AJK.

The meeting appreciated the AJK prime minister and government for the development projects, establishing universities and three medical colleges in AJK. The meeting also appreciated that AJK Assembly’s resolution on Gilgit Baltistan and reaffirms that till the final decisions of AJK issue, the status of Gilgit Baltistan will not be changed.