ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Representatives of APHC have expressed fears that any change in Pakistan's stance will not only disappoint people and frustrate the freedom struggle but will also damage the Kashmir cause.
These fears were expressed during a first meeting between the special parliamentary committee on Kashmir and the representatives of All Parties Hurriat Conference (APHC) on Wednesday.
The meeting was held with an aim of the government to understand the latest situation of the held Kashmir and formalize a report for consideration of the Foreign Office.
The committee will hold its first formal working session on Thursday to further discuss and finalize its report based on its recommendations as policy guidelines for Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, who is due to meet his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on September 5-6.
The bipartisan Kashmir Committee consists of members of parliament from both the treasury and the opposition parliamentary groups. Kashmir Committee Chairman Hamid Nasir Chattha presided over the meeting, which was also attended by opposition members Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Liaqat Baloch and official parliamentarian Zahid Hamid.
APHC convener Farooq Rahman told Dawn after the meeting that it was the first interaction of the Kashmir Committee with the conference's representatives in Pakistan in which the committee members were briefed on fresh Kashmir situation.
Besides the APHC representatives in Pakistan, the representatives of prominent Kashmir resistance leaders Shabbir Shah and Yasin Malik also attended the meeting, he said, adding that only the leaders of the Hurriat's Gilani group were invited because it was recognized by the government of Pakistan.
The committee was provided with proposals to accelerate the efforts of seeking political solution of Kashmir. The participants stressed the projection of human rights violations in held Kashmir through media and diplomatic sources in the world.
Talking to this reporter, one of the participants, Liaqat Baloch, said the prevailing opinion in the committee meeting was that unless the people of Kashmir were afforded their right to self-determination there would be no use of composite dialogue with India.
He claimed that the representatives of APHC have made it clear on the committee that any change in Pakistan's stance would not only disappoint the people and frustrate the freedom struggle, but would also damage the Kashmir cause.
The APHC representatives stressed that Pakistan should stick to its historical position on the Kashmir issue to boost the morale of Kashmiri people. They said that while India was deriving political benefits from the so called confidence building measures (CBMs), Pakistan was losing ground by demonstrating unnecessary retreat from its stated position.
The participants agreed with the notion that Pakistan should carry on with its old position of seeking Kashmir solution through UN resolutions and supporting right to self-determination as the birth right of Kashmiris.
Mr Chattha apprised the participants about the aims and objectives of the committee which include monitoring the human rights violations by Indian troops, mobilize the cause to self- determination of Kashmiri people at national and international forums and provide moral and political support in their freedom struggle.
He said the committee would also consider and discuss other matters related to Kashmir which could be adopted for seeking an early solution to the Kashmir issue. It would also prepare strategy to beware the new generation of Pakistan about the Kashmir cause, he added.
