India should allow Kashmiris to decide their future: AJK PM

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said that July 19 is the most significant day in the history of Kashmir.
The PM in a message on the eve of July 19 being celebrated on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) said, “It was a day when genuine representatives of the state passed a resolution to express their collective desire to accede to Pakistan.” He added that the day is not far when the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir will be liberated and made part of Pakistan to materialize the “long dream of the Kashmiri people.”
Haider said that the Kashmiri leadership had unanimously decided on July 19, 1947 to attach their fate with Pakistan even before its birth by passing accession to the Pakistan resolutions to protect their religious, economic and political rights.
He urged India to respect the sentiments of Kashmiri people by allowing them to decide their future with free will and in line with United Nations’ Security Council resolutions that pledge Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination through a plebiscite.
The AJK PM said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute is imperative for permanent peace in the region. He expressed his profound gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for supporting Kashmir struggle diplomatically, morally and politically.
“Unfortunately today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are feeling distressed and agonised because of the instability in Pakistan,” he said, adding “it is matter of grave concern that a fake and phony leadership is being thrust upon the people of Pakistan against their will and without weighing its negative consequences on Kashmir’s liberation struggle.”
Haider said that such undemocratic and manipulative efforts ahead of the general elections in Pakistan would adversely affect the democratic movement of Kashmiri people across the (LoC) where people are engaged in a democratic struggle for their rights.
With regards to the prevailing global environment, he said, “Pakistan needs a genuine and democratically elected leadership that could represent real sentiments of the people.”
He said that the people of Kashmir held Sharif in high esteem because of his commitment to the Kashmir cause and socioeconomic development of the liberated region of Kashmir.
AJK Prime Minister Haider strongly condemned political victimisation of Sharif and his political colleagues by framing fake and unfounded charges, restricting election campaign of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and ill-treatment of Sharif and his daughter in jail. He added that vindictive actions will push the country into political upheaval and chaos.