February 06, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 27, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 5: Accusing the government of putting the Kashmir issue on the backburner, the Pakistan People’s Party pledged to resolve the problem in accordance with the aspirations of the people of the disputed territory, if the party assumed power.

This was stated by the deputy secretary-general of the PPP, Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday at a function organised at the party’s secretariat to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the ‘Kashmir Day’ was initiated by the PPP’s founding chairman, late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, to highlight the atrocities committed by the Indian forces in the disputed territory.

Criticising the role of the government in the resolution of the Kashmir issue during the last few years, he said that the issue had even been removed from the backburner and pushed into the cold storage.

The PPP leader urged the Kashmiris to vote for the PPP in the Feb 18 elections so that their case could be advocated forcefully at all platforms at home and abroad.

He said that the Simla accord was not over and above the UN resolutions on Kashmir and the issue must be resolved in accordance with those resolutions and the aspirations of the people of the disputed territory.

Mr Rabbani claimed that the slain PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, had advanced the Kashmir cause and helped the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) gain observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Further highlighting the role of the slain PPP leader, he said that she had always advocated that since the struggle in the occupied territory was an indigenous struggle, it should also be backed by dialogue. He, however, deplored that at that time the then establishment had termed it a security risk. But recently they adopted the same course, he said.

The PPP leader called for tri-partite dialogue involving Pakistan, India and above all the Kashmiri people. He said that today not only the PPP but the entire country was grieving the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and vowed to continue her mission for the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.