18 July 2004	Sunday	29 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

RAWALPINDI, July 17: Speakers at a function here on Saturday asked the United States to stop questioning Pakistan's sincerity in stopping "cross-border infiltration" and instead pressure the Indian government to end its ongoing state terrorism in the valley.

The programme was jointly organized by the Kashmir Liberation Cell and Kashmir Centre, Rawalpindi, in connection with Kashmir's Accession to Pakistan Weak.

Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq said the statement of US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage regarding Pakistan's "failure to dismantle all terrorists camps in Azad Kashmir" was just continuation of the Indian stance on the issue. The US must differentiate between the state terrorism and indigenous struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self- determination, he added.

He said there was no difference between the Israeli state terrorism in Palestine and that of the Indians in Kashmir.

The Israelis are erecting a controversial wall around the occupied territories despite the verdict of the International Court of Justice and opposition by many countries. Similarly, the Indians are fencing along the Line of Control (LoC) in disregard of UN resolutions on the issue, he added.

He said resistance in Kashmir was the outcome of atrocities and human rights violations committed by over 700,000 Indian troops, who have so far killed over 80,000 Kashmiris.

President Pervez Musharraf, he said, had made it clear that without resolving the Kashmir issue India-Pakistan relations could not be improved.

Former Azad Kashmir president Sardar Mohammad Abdul Qayyum Khan said Pakistan must consciously play its role of a frontline state in the US war on terror, and should not accept all the American directives on its Kashmir policy.

"The US has an infinite list of demands from Pakistan and is exerting pressure on the country to do more and more for its war on terror," he added.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the government's Kashmir policy and said lack of unity among politicians had been responsible for the present not-so-satisfactory Kashmir policy. However, he hoped of a better tomorrow.

Senator Akram Zaki said that in its war on terror the US must not forget the lessons of freedom struggles. He said if the US considered the Kashmiri freedom fighters as terrorists, how it could justify the role of its own hero, George Washington, who fought against the British empire for the freedom of American people.

He also held the US responsible for the present state of affairs in Afghanistan as it was the same United States which fled the country when its objectives were achieved after disintegration of the former USSR.

Other speakers also highlighted human rights violations in Kashmir and asked the UN to play its role and implement its resolutions on the issue.