MUZAFFARABAD: Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday accused the PTI led government of Pakistan of selling out Kashmir and asked the nation to refresh its resolve for the freedom of the occupied territory.

“Fake governments cannot represent a nation [...] The rulers of Pakistan are the sellers of Kashmir and such rulers should not dare appear before the Kashmiris,” he said at an “Azadi Conference” under the aegis of his party in K H Khurshid Stadium here.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider and JUI leaders from different parts of country, including secretary general Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, also addressed the event.“I want to tell the rulers who have discouraged and disappointed the Kashmiris and have termed their jihad as enmity with Pakistan and Kashmir that the freedom struggle of Kashmiris is alive and we stand by them with full conviction,” he added.

The JUI chief maintained that over the last 70 years Kashmiris were shown the path of ‘accession to Pakistan’ but they could not move an inch towards this destination due to the [ill conceived] policies of the rulers.Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, he said, would be on the basis of the right to self-determination, exercised through the UN sponsored referendum.

He said Narendra Modi’s move of Aug 5 had given birth to a new intifada and Kashmiris had dedicated themselves to the achievement of their goal with a renewed spirit.He took exception to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement before Indian polls that Narendra Modi would settle the issue of Kashmir after coming to power.

“We have got a leader who makes the whole nation ashamed of his captaincy.”

Alleging that the rulers lacked knowledge of the genesis of Kashmir issue the JUI-F chief asked the AJK prime minister to help them grasp it.The JUI-F chief also criticised PTI government of paving the way for recognition of Israel and said the Jewish rule on any part of Arabian Peninsula was not acceptable to the Muslim Ummah.

“We are not talking of some Arab countries, the collective stand of the Ummah is eviction of Jews from the land of Arab.”

He made it clear that recognising Israel was tantamount to accepting its occupation of Palestine.

“Like we do not accept Israeli occupation of Palestine, we do not accept Kashmir’s occupation by India either,” he said.“I say our enemy is not outside but within.”

Referring to his upcoming move to lock down Islamabad, he said a sea of people would storm the capital from across the country on his call.

“We will decide the date in consultation with the PML-N and will jointly fight and get rid of the illegitimate government.”

Earlier, AJK prime minister said that India was desperately trying to present Kashmir as a bilateral issue, which should be frustrated at all costs.

He reiterated his suggestion for constitution of an umbrella set up, consisting of AJK government and All Parties Hurriyat Conference, to plead the case of Kashmiris at the international level.

“Maulana, you should support us. I can assure that a Pakistani may betray Pakistan but a Kashmiri will never do so,” he said to the JUI-F chief.Prominent among others who spoke were JUI AJK chapter ameer Maulana Saeed Yousuf, JUI-F Sindh chapter leaders Maulana Abdul Qayyum Halechvi, and Allama Rashid Soomro, JUI-F Gilgit Baltistan chapter ameer Attaullah Shahab.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2019