MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that no solution to Kashmir dispute is acceptable unless it enjoys approbation of the Kashmiri people.

“Kashmir is not a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan … rather it’s a trilateral issue with Kashmiris being the principal party,” he said while addressing the 16th Biennial Convention of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) on Sunday.

Stating there was no “out of box” solution for the Kashmir issue, Mr Khan emphasised that the future of Kashmir should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.

The UN Security Council resolutions provided the required mechanism to ascertain the will of the Kashmiri people, he said.

He added that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had been struggling for their democratic rights including the right to self-determination for over two centuries and no power on earth could snatch the will of Kashmiri people for their legitimate and undeniable right.

Referring to the alleged cruelty of the Indian army in held-Kashmir, the AJK president urged the international community to intervene and help ease the sufferings of Kashmiri people who were peacefully demanding their UN-mandated rights.

“The appalling and inhumane situation in Kashmir caused by the Indian occupation army has deteriorated to unheard levels of depravity,” said Mr Khan, who has eloquently pleaded the Kashmir cause at the UN, OIC and in world capitals for years during his diplomatic career before his election to the office of AJK president.

Tracing the history of the plight of Kashmiris, Mr Khan said it was their hard luck that Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, a Kashmiri leader in 1947, decided to side with India in its conflict with Pakistan and thus became an instrument in chaining Kashmiris in the pang of Indian slavery.

The president also appreciated the efforts of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and its affiliates in AJK, Pakistan and India-held Kashmir for creating mass awareness about unresolved Kashmir issue at home and at international level.

Earlier, JI AJK chief Dr Khalid Mehmood said the struggle in India-held Kashmir was both popular and indigenous and could not be suppressed by the use of brute force.

“The martyrs over the past two years include four PhD scholars which is proof that highly educated youths are also joining the ranks of fighters following India’s refusal to address this issue through peaceful means,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2019