MUZAFFARABAD, July 13: President Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and amir Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Tuesday blamed President Gen Pervez Musharraf for creating confusion on the Kashmir issue but made it clear that the nation would not compromise its stand on the issue. “Pervez Musharraf has created confusion and chaos on Kashmir but let it be clear to him and his cohorts that no American agent can divert us from our national stand on the issue,” he said in his speech at the “Defend Kashmir Conference” held here at the University Ground under the aegis of Jamaat-i-Islami Azad Jammu and Kashmir (JIAJK).

Thousands of people, including women, attended the conference which coincided with “Kashmir Martyrs Day” observed throughout the Himalayan region to commemorate the sacrifices of 22 Kashmiris gunned down by the Dogra ruler’s troops in Srinagar 73 years ago on this day.

The MMA chief said that Kashmir remained an unfinished agenda of the partition plan and its future had to be decided in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

“Unless that happens, the whole of Kashmir, including what is under Pakistan’s administrative control, remains a disputed territory and neither Pervez Musharraf nor any American-sponsored international conspiracy can compel us to change our stand,” he said.

He said: “Gen Musharraf had not only aggravated the Kashmir problem but he has become a mouthpiece of the Americans because he terms jihad as terrorism whereas, in fact, martyrdom and jihad are the only tools to liberate not only Kashmiris but also the entire Muslim Ummah which is enslaved as well.”

Mr Ahmed said he was at a loss to understand how this festering problem could be resolved through the peaceful process of talks when India was not ready to accept the entire region as a disputed territory.

He recalled that the armed struggle in held Kashmir had begun after all peaceful efforts by the Kashmiris to get this issue resolved were frustrated by India.