11 November 2004	Thursday	27 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday called for demilitarizing of the entire Jammu and Kashmir and holding of elections under United Nations' supervision to ensure true representation of the people of the region as part of efforts to resolve the issue.

Speaking at a press conference at his party's secretariat on his return from a four-day trip to India, he said the Kashmiris, being the affected people, were the main party to the issue.

He said the Kashmiris had the right to be given full representation in the peace process and to self-determination.

"It is impossible for both Pakistan and India to permanently resolve the Kashmir issue while not caring for the wishes of the Kashmiris. Any enforced surgical solution, including the declaration of the Line of Control as the international border, will be rejected by the people of Kashmir and Pakistan," he said.

After the Kashmir issue is resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiris, the big chunk of the country's budget being allocated for defence should be utilized for human development, he said.

He rejected the latest proposal of a former chief minister of occupied Kashmir regarding freezing of the issue for 20 years as unrealistic and impractical. He said freezing of the issue meant ignoring a problem which demanded urgent attention for peace and tranquillity in the region.

"The Kashmir issue is not a dispute over land between Pakistan and India but a human rights issue and any further delay in its redress is tantamount to closing one's eyes to the violation of basic human rights," he said.

During his visit to India, Mr Khan met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other politicians and business leaders and discussed with them the issue. He also visited the shrines of Nizamuddin Aulia and Ajmer Sharif and had had an Iftar dinner with the Imam of Dehli Mosque. He spoke to people after offering Friday prayers at the mosque.

With Ms Gandhi he discussed the peace process and the war on terror While stressing the difference between terrorism and freedom movements, he said. Ms Gandhi would soon visit Pakistan, he said.

He said he stressed on the Indian leaders that no issue was intractable if the leadership had the determination to reach a just solution. If a just solution could be found to the complex problem of apartheid in South Africa, why the Kashmir issue could not be resolved, he asked.

He criticized Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain's statements in India regarding the LoC and the country's independence and termed those against the national interest. He said the backwardness and failure of the country was due to its corrupt policymakers and not any faults in the ideology of Pakistan.

Pakistan, he said, was ahead of India in various social and economic fields till recently. However, corrupt governments destroyed the political institutions of the country one by one over the last 10 to 15 years, he said.

Responding to a question, Mr Khan said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy should show unity while launching their struggle against President Gen Pervez Musharraf after Eid.

President Musharraf was a dictator and had destroyed political institutions and the foundation of democracy, the PTI leader said.