MIRPUR: An Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) based orphan charity has pledged to build 500 housesin collaboration with the state government for the most deserving families of the martyrs of Indian shelling at the Line of Control (LoC).

The symbolic ground-breaking of the project was performed by AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas in this lakeside city late on Saturday night by unveiling four plaques at a largely attended wedding ceremony in the family of Chaudhry Mohammad Akhtar, founder of Kashmir Orphan Relief Trust (KORT).

Prominent among those who attended and witnessed the ground-breaking included former AJK premier Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami AJK Emir Abdul Rashid Turabi, AJK cabinet members Deevan Ali Chughtai, Nisar Ansar Abdali, Chaudhry Arshad Hussain, Chaudhry Yasir Sultan, Chaudhry Akhlaque and former defence secretary retired Lt-Gen Chaudhry Ikramul Haq and former corps commander retired Lt-Gen Sher Afgun, both of whom come from Mirpur division.

“This unique and wonderful project is a humble acknowledgement of the supreme sacrifices of the people who laid down their lives at the hands of our bestial enemy, India,” Mr Ilyas said on the occasion.

He said the project envisaged construction of a total of 500 houses in separate colonies in Mirpur, Bagh, Neelum and Kotli districts, with 50pc share of the total cost to be picked by the AJK government.

“This project is not being launched for popularity, appreciation or political advantages but purely for the betterment of humanity,” the AJK premier maintained.

In a gesture of supplication, he said he firmly believed that the Allah Almighty would shower His special blessings for an early completion of this project.

Terming the residents along the heavily militarised LoC as the first defence line of the country, he said his government would construct protection bunkers for them so that they could shield themselves in the event of shelling by the Indian army.

In the same context, he added that an air ambulance service would also be launched in the liberated territory in cooperation with Shaheen Foundation primarily to evacuate the victims of Indian aggression at LoC to the tertiary healthcare centres.

The AJK premier expressed the hope that other affluent and influential people of state would draw inspiration from Mr Akhtar and spare a sizable portion of their wealth for projects of public welfare.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022