Kashmiris must be involved in finding a lasting solution to Kashmir issue: Masood

ISLAMABAD, June 16: The AJK President Sardar Masood Khan while describing the situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) as alarming, said India and Pakistan cannot resolve the Kashmir issue without the active participation of Kashmiris in the dialogue process.

“The people of Kashmir have immensely suffered due to unresolved Kashmir issue and they must be involved in finding a solution to the problems in the region,” Masood emphasized.

He made these remarks while speaking at the launching ceremony of the book “Qissa Nisf Sadi Ka (Tale of half-century)” authored by the leader of Jamaat Islami occupied Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Nowsheri.

The ceremony was also addressed by Acting Jamaat Islami Azad Kashmir chief Noorul Bari, Chairman Public Accounts Committee Azad Kashmir Abdur Rashid Turabi, Hurriyat leader Farooq Rehmani, convener Tehrike Hurriyat Ghulam Mohammad Safi, head of Kashmir Media Service Sheikh Tajammalul Islam and President Institute of Policy Studies Islamabad, Dr Khalid Rehman.

“The talks held between Pakistan and India on various occasions since 1949, failed to yield results because Kashmiris were not part of the process. Now in the changed scenario, Kashmiri representatives must also be seated on the negotiations table in Islamabad and Delhi to find a viable solution to the Kashmir issue,” he asserted.

The AJK president said that the situation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir is highly frightening because Kashmiris are being deprived of their lands, business, and employment, rendering them dispossessed on their own territory.

He went on to say that it is high time that all stakeholders revisit their strategy and adopt a practicable course of action for the freedom of Kashmir.

Sardar Masood Khan cautioned that the entire Kashmiri nation was being exterminated in occupied territory and they were haplessly looking to the people of AJK and Pakistan to force India to end human rights abuses and grant the right of self-determination as promised by the UN Security Council resolutions and committed by the Indian leadership.

“The Kashmiri people are part of our heart and soul, and Kashmir is the natural part of the state of Pakistan,” he said and noted that the Kashmiri people were fighting a war for the completion of Pakistan, and they have sacrificed more than half-million lives in this war since 1947.

President Khan warned that we must realize that if the Kashmiri people lost their war in IOJK, it would put in danger the security and integrity of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

“We need to rise up with a renewed resolve to raise the voice of the oppressed Kashmiri people on every forum of the world because terrorists in the Indian Army uniform are engaged in disintegrating Kashmir, eliminating the Kashmiri people, and rooting out every sign and symbol of Islamic culture in the state.

Paying great tributes to Jamaat Islami for its role and sacrifices in the freedom movement of Kashmir, the AJK president said that the Kashmiri nation would never forget the golden chapter of the party’s role in the liberation struggle.

He maintained that the chief of Jamaat Islami Pakistan Sirajul Haq is a true Pakistani who established his credentials as an honest leader, has always supported the Kashmiri people and Kashmir cause, and had set an example for others in this regard.