12 January 2004	Monday	19 Ziqa'ad 1424

RAWALPINDI, Jan 11: Former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry on Sunday called for including Kashmiris in the forthcoming "composite dialogue" between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Mr Chaudhry, who is also the president of People's Party AJK, was speaking at a public meeting of his party held here at the Liaquat Bagh in connection with the 'right to self- determination week'.

More than 3,000 PPP activists participated in the meeting. The police had to close traffic on Murree Road from Committee Chowk to Liaquat Bagh for almost an hour to provide a smooth passage to the convoy of Kashmiris. Traffic was diverted to other routes, owing to which long queues of vehicles could be seen on various roads in the Glass Factory area, Raja Bazaar, Asghar Maal, Satellite Town, Civil Lines and Mareer Hassan.

The participants, including the members of People's Student Federation (PSF) and People's Youth Organization, were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans such as "No Sellout and U-turn on Kashmir", " Release Asif Ali Zardari", and "Allow Benazir to Come to her Country".

A large number of pigeons were set free on the occasion. Besides, hundreds of balloons were also released in the air. Speaking to the participant, Barrister Sultan said the UN resolutions were the only remedy to solve the Kashmir issue. He also hailed the Musharraf-Vajpayee meeting during the recent Saarc Summit and appreciated the decision of holding a "composite dialogue" in near future.

However, he maintained that no force on earth could divide Kashmir. He also called for abolishing the Kashmir affairs ministry as, according to him, it had failed to do any good to either the Kashmir issue or the valley people.He proposed establishment of a Kashmir council to create harmony between the wishes of Kashmiris and Pakistan government's policies.

Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan had no "constitutional" rights to build any dams in the AJK and that Kashmiris would foil any such attempt. He also criticized the government's move to extend Mangla Dam.

He said the people of Pakistan backed Kashmiris, but, Musharraf government was not a true representatives of the people. Their party, he said, would also hold public meetings in Charoi and Muzaffarabad on Jan 14 and 15, respectively to foil"the attempts of the AJK government to weaken their party".

Others leaders who spoke on the occasion included PPP AJK vice-president Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin, MNA Zamarud Khan, AJK Legislative Assembly members Dewaan Gulam Mohyuddin, Chaudhry Maqbool, Raja Mujahid Hussain and Sardar Mohammad Hussain, Kashmir Council members Sardar Sawaar Khan and Matloob Inqilabi, former MLA Masaud Mumtaz Rathore, former AJK minister Khwaja Farooq Ahmed, PSF chairman Gul Nawaz, president of the AJK lawyers' wing Azhar Gillani and Qazi Sultan Mehmood.