MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 25: Chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, Azad Kashmir, Sardar Ejaz Afzal Khan, on Tuesday regretted that successive governments had failed to address the problems of the Neelum valley people although they had been serving the nation as an "unsalaried army".
"Neelum valley people are our entrenched army and like everywhere in the world they should also have been looked after in the same way as the regular army itself. But, unfortunately it has not been so in their case," he told a press conference at the conclusion of his four-day tour to the northeastern valley.
Paying tributes to them for their courage and valour during the 15 years of unrelenting Indian shelling, the JIAJK chief said: "Had the valley people resorted to en-mass migration, it would have become too difficult for the government and the army to maintain the defence of the area."
He criticized the erection of a barrier in the valley's remotest Taobat village, where according to him even the local residents were not being allowed to go to their homes without showing ID cards.
"Why such a treatment is being meted out when there has not been a single terrorist incident in that area? Nor any spy has ever been arrested there," he said. Mr Afzal also alleged that the "army was subjecting people to forced labour in the valley in spite of obtaining budget's major share."
"During my stay, I learnt that a person whose three sons were killed in Indian shelling was forced to lug ration for the army just three days after the tragedy struck him. The army should do this job by themselves because they take the lion's share in the budget."
About the ceasefire, he said the governments in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad had failed to seize the opportunity and take steps to provide maximum relief to the people of the border areas.
On the contrary, he said, India had erected fence, constructed trenches and strengthened its communication network across the LoC. The JIAJK chief said he could not see any signs of development in the valley except for 'superficial black topping' of some sections of the main road and called upon the government to tap the rich resources of the valley for its socio-economic uplift.
In response to a question, he said that despite all injustices and problems the spirits of the valley people were high and their commitment to the freedom movement had not subsided.
He also denounced the closure of branches by Muslim Commercial Bank in AJK due to the alleged dispute over income tax and said the move had rendered around 500 people jobless.
"The deposits of the Kashmiris in the Pakistani banks run into billions but in return these institutions are not putting any share in development of our region," he said. "Given their attitude, establishment of AJK's own bank has now become a must," he said, asking the government to take the decision in this regard so as to create employment opportunities as well as boost industrialization here.
