|
|
| February 10, 2002 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 26, 1422 |
Further action against jihadis ‘unlikely’
LAHORE, Feb 9: National Kashmir Committee chairman Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan believes that no further action will be taken against any jihadi organization.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, he said the action taken against jihadi organizations would not affect the freedom movement. He also said the government did not take these organizations as its adversaries. He said the strategy adopted by these organizations had caused problems for the government and necessitated action against some of them.
“A poor strategy can jeopardize even a noble cause,” the NKC chief said, defending the government action. He was at pains to establish that the purpose was not to humiliate any of the organizations.
Sardar Qayyum, who has been president as well as prime minister of Azad Kashmir, said that strategy for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute might undergo changes on various occasions till the problem was finally settled. The freedom movement, he said, would go on till the achievement of its objective.
Replying to a question, he said the movement might witness ups and downs according to the changing situation in occupied Kashmir, but it would go on till the Kashmiri people got their right to self-determination.
He said the NKC would try to evolve what he called an intellectual consensus for the solution of the dispute. The entire nation, he said, wanted that the Kashmiri people should get independence from India and become part of Pakistan. But, he said, different people had different strategies in their minds.
He said the real problem was agreeing on modalities of settling the dispute. When President Musharraf paid a visit to Agra, he said, an agreement was reached on modalities. But, he regretted, the extremist elements in the BJP had sabotaged it.
He underlined the need for an intra-Kashmiri dialogue to find a solution in accordance with the desires of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan, he said, should be willing to discuss any proposal from India. Talks between the two countries, he said, should be without preconditions.
The NKC chief said that President Musharraf had adopted a very realistic approach by saying that bilateralism had failed and that a third-party assistance was required to settle the Kashmir dispute.
He said the NKC would try to coordinate the efforts being made at various levels and fora for the settlement of the dispute. It would also strive to remove misunderstandings caused by Indian propaganda about the freedom movement.
Today, Sardar Qayyum said, Pakistan and India seemed to be on a war path. There was a need for normalization of the situation.
The NKC, he said, would send to India a delegation the composition of which had yet to be decided. Should the Indian government permit, he said, he himself would be a part of the delegation.
Answering a question, Sardar Qayyum said since governments in Pakistan faced different situations, the contribution of one could not be compared to another. He said the late Gen Zia had played an important role in advancing the cause of the Kashmiri people’s rights. The policies of Benazir and Nawaz governments, he said, were marred by confusion.
The policy being pursued by President Musharraf, Sardar Qayyum said was very clear. As a result, he said, the Kashmiris would get their rights.
|
|
