MUZAFFARABAD: Reitera­ting Pakistan’s commitment to diplomatic, moral and political support for the just cause of Kashmiris and assistance to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) without any break, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said Pakistan never considered Kashmir a separate entity.

“Pakistan has never felt that it and Kashmir are two separate entities… The hearts of the people of Pakistan and Kashmir throb together. The centuries-old bond of love between us will remain alive forever,” said the prime minister in his address to a special joint sitting of the AJK Legislative Assembly and AJK Council held here to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Mr Abbasi said Pakistan had always strived for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue and would continue its efforts in this regard. However, he suggested to the Kashmiri leadership to utilise and mobilise the diaspora on the Kashmir issue.

“The diaspora have resources as well as commitment. You have to provide them leadership and the leadership will come from this house, regardless of any divide,” he added.

Warns AJK leaders against any divide that impairs cause of Kashmir

Earlier, at the outset of the proceedings, the joint session that was presided over by LA speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir saw some heated arguments by the opposition leaders who complained about the AJK government’s “discriminatory treatment”.

It was perhaps for this reason that Mr Abbasi focused much of his extempore speech on the need for unity and solidarity. “I know many of you. The chairs you are occupying today were once held by leaders such as Sardar Ibrahim, K.H. Khurshid and Sardar Qayyum who had set very strong traditions which you people have to maintain and strengthen.

“Bickering in the parliament is a common practice. I have spent considerable time in the opposition and can understand the feelings and psychology of the opposition, but when it comes to Kashmir, you have to show complete unity to successfully thwart the forces obstructing our path [to freedom],” the prime minister said.

He warned AJK leaders against the divide that would impair the Kashmir issue. They should not drag their differences so much that people started doubting their intentions about Kashmir, he said, adding that 364 days of the year were enough for politics but on this solidarity day the leaders of AJK should stand united. They were not alone in their struggle but 207 million Pakistanis were with them, he maintained.

The prime minister said Kashmir always remained central to the policies of Pakistan, whether there were political governments or dictatorships, over the past 70 years. He said his party leader, Nawaz Sharif, was also a Kashmiri who had never said or done anything that compromised his commitment to Kashmir. “I would say all leaders were and are united on Kashmir.”

Paying tribute to the people of India-held Kashmir for their heroic struggle and sacrifices, Mr Abbasi said there were no two opinions about their courageousness, resilience and determination. “There has not been a slightest discontinuance in their struggle because they have elders such as Ali Geelani and youngsters such as Burhan Wani,” he said.

The prime minister said: “India has employed each and every tactic to suppress the Kashmiris but to no avail. All we have to do is help and stand by them, by advocating their cause with consensus and cohesion.”

Referring to the latest Indian shelling along the LoC, Mr Abbasi said the federal government would extend whatever possible help to the victims besides provision of funds for construction of bunkers along the LoC. He also referred to the ongoing war at the western borders, which he said claimed 6,500 lives and engaged 200,000 Pakistani troops.

Mr Abbasi asserted that the PML-N government in centre had not interfered or influenced the 2016 polls in the AJK, in contrast to the practice by its predecessors. “When we came to power we were under pressure to send the then PPP government in Muzaffarabad packing, but we didn’t agree. Mian Nawaz Sharif himself decided that we will let it complete its term, in accordance with its mandate.”

He maintained that the AJK government and opposition were under an obligation to concentrate and have consensus on two issues. “First is to provide model governance so that people get their problems addressed at their doorsteps. Second is to maintain spirit on Kashmir, project the cause of Kashmir in all international forums and mobilise the diaspora.” He assured the lawmakers that the AJK government would get whatever resources it needed from the centre for development. In this regard, he cited the doubling of AJK’s development budget and “initiation of several stalled projects” in power and communications sectors.

He said Mr Sharif got the Mirpur-Mansehra-Muzaffarabad motorway project included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would prove a milestone for AJK development. “This project is for generations [to come],” he said.

Foundation stone

Prime Minister Abbasi also performed the groundbreaking of the Legislative Assembly complex to be constructed under the federal ministry of Kashmir affairs at a cost of Rs 2.21 billion in three years. He also inaugurated 23-km-long Muzaffarabad-Pirchinasi road constructed in three and a quarter years.

Earlier in the morning, one-minute silence was observed at 10am followed by formation of human chains by the Kashmiris and Pakistanis at several points linking AJK with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2018