September 08, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 07, 1429

MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 7: Felicitating Asif Ali Zardari on his election as President of Pakistan, the People’s Party Azad Kashmir (PPAJK) on Sunday called upon him to select Muzaffarabad for his first official tour after taking oath to reiterate Bhutto family's unwavering commitment to the Kashmiris.

“The visit of President Zardari would send a loud and clear message across the globe that how much priority the present government in Pakistan gives to Kashmir,” said Khwaja Farooq Ahmed, PPAJK's central leader and former AJK minister.

Talking to reporters here, he alleged that former president Gen Pervez Musharraf had badly impaired the cause of Kashmiris, helping India to strengthen its propaganda about the Kashmiris’ indigenous struggle for right to self-determination. He said Mr Zardari's visit to Muzaffarabad would also sweep away all such wrong perceptions.

According to him, the election of PPP co-chairman was victory of democratic forces on the one hand and vindication of the endless popularity of the PPP in the length and breadth of Pakistan including Azad Kashmir on the other.

“The co-chairman is truly a symbol of federation because not only the provincial assemblies but also the legislative assembly in AJK had favoured his entrance upon the country's highest political office through parliamentary resolutions,” he recalled.

Mr Ahmed was of the view that the Muzaffarabad visit of Mr Zardari would also offer solace and encourage the survivors of October 2005 earthquake who, he said, were still awaiting the launch of the long-pledged reconstruction process.

When questioned about AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan's support to the resolution in AJK assembly about Mr Zardari's candidature, the PPAJK leader said it would not make any difference to the party's thinking about the “corrupt regime installed through rigged elections.”

“None of us have forgotten the painful comments about our founding chairman (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) which Mr Attique had made on the floor of the AJK assembly only to please Gen Musharraf's handpicked former prime minister Shaukat Aziz,” he said.

Referring to the AJK premier's theory of “military democracy” as well as his claims of being a loyalist of Mr Musharraf, he said Mr Attique had attempted to change his political faith in less than a month after the resignation of his mentor.

“The MC leadership is behaving like a chameleon for the sake of power but whatever gimmicks it may resort to, people are sick of this government owing to its corruption and inefficiency,” he said.