August 17, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Saani 7, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 16: A prominent Kashmiri leader on Friday branded both the Pakistan and Indian governments “enemies” of Kashmir and slammed them for spending on defence at the expense of their own poor.

“The self-styled hawkish governments of India and Pakistan are the real enemies, not only of the people of Jammu and Kashmir state, but of their own poor masses,” said Amanullah Khan, chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

He said the Sub-continent’s people were “the real victims” of the conflict.

Amanullah Khan, whose JKLF wants total independence for Kashmir, also lambasted claims by Islamabad and New Delhi over Kashmir.

“The often repeated rhetoric of Atoot Ang (The claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India) and Shah Rag ( The claim that Kashmir belongs to Pakistan)..., has harmed one-fifth of all humanity ...,” he said.

It had also courted the danger of nuclear war between the neighbours, the JKLF chairman said.

“The worst misfortune of the two nations and Kashmir is that their leaders and rulers resorted to rhetoric that is most harmful to their ultimate national interests and to that of the world at large,” he said.

He said a bright and prosperous future for both India and Pakistan lay in friendship and the only way to achieve that objective is to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

“If they don’t (resolve the issue) a catastrophe is definitely waiting in the wings,” Amanullah said.

He renewed his proposal that Kashmir be reunited into a fully independent state with a secular, democratic government friendly to both Pakistan and India.—AFP