September 7, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Saani28,1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 6: A senior leader of Muslim Conference on Wednesday warned that any attempt to “run a system in Azad Kashmir against the spirit of the unanimously passed constitution would lead to anarchy.”

“Any extra-constitutional attempt to run the government in Azad Kashmir would not only lead to anarchy and unrest but also promote anti-Pakistan and pro-India sentiments,” said Prime Minister’s Implementation Commission Chairman Raja Farooq Haider in a statement.

The educated youth and sagacious elements, said Mr Haider, smelt a conspiracy to lower the status of Azad Kashmir as well as to deal a blow to the prevailing system of government and constitutional institutions in the name of “good governance.”

“The repercussions of the degradation of constitutional institutions in Azad Kashmir would be disastrous beyond imagination,” he warned.

The statement of Mr Haider, it was believed, was in reference to the recent covert moves on part of Islamabad to involve the AJK president - a retired army general - in the administrative affairs of Azad Kashmir, including transfers of senior government functionaries.

“People of Azad Kashmir have struggled and sacrificed a lot to achieve the constitutional rights and the parliamentary setup.

“They will not allow its degradation to the status of Northern Areas,” said Mr Haider.

“The system in AJK could only be run through a democratically elected government in Muzaffarabad and not from Murree or Islamabad,” he said, referring to the Murree-based head of the army’s 12 Division, who is in-charge of the monitoring cell for Azad Kashmir.