MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has appealed to political and politico-religious leadership in Pakistan and AJK to rally practical support for the freedom seeking Kashmiris in addition to raising a strong voice against India’s constitutional terrorism of Aug 5.

He made this request through letters sent to all prominent leaders in Pakistan and AJK as well as the Pakistan based representatives of an alliance of pro-freedom Kashmiri leadership in India held Kashmir, according to a press release by the prime minister’s office.

“On Aug 5 last year, India committed constitutional terrorism to scrap special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by converting it into two union territories. Ever since, the occupied territory is under the grip of lockdowns and multitudinous restrictions, including disconnection of its communications links with the rest of the world. More than 800,000 Indian troops have used every brute method to unleash genocide and terror in the occupied territory. As it was not enough, domicile certificates to more than 25000 non Kashmiris have also been issued by the Indian authorities as part of its despicable demographic engineering,” the PM wrote, according to the press release.

Furthermore, Mr Haider pointed out that all of India’s unlawful actions over the past year were not only changing the population ratio in the Muslim majority state, but were also in contravention of the UN Security Council Resolutions, particularly 91 of 1951 and 127 of 1957, as well as the [bilateral] Simla Agreement.

In his letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mr Haider also invited him to address a special session of the AJK Legislative Assembly to mark Black Day on Aug 5.

Separately, in a tweet, Mr Haider said he had invited PM Imran Khan to address AJKLA on Aug 5 “to once again make it known to the world that Pakistan will fully resist India’s attempts to change the internationally acknowledged disputed status of India occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.

According to the press release, the Pakistani leaders who were sent letters included PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, JI Emir Sirajul Haq, JUI(F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Pak Sarzameen Party chief Mustafa Kamal, PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Balochistan National Party-Awami chief Mir Israrullah Zehri, Balochistan National Party-Mengalchief Akhtar Mengal, PML-F chief Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi, MQM Pakistan chief Aamir Khan, Senate chairman Mohammad Sadiq Sanjrani and vice chairman Pakistan Bar Council Abid Saqi.

“I hope that not only that Aug 5 will be observed as Black Day across Pakistan, but also an all party conference will be held immediately afterwards to [discuss and] agree at solid and practical steps for settlement of Kashmir,” he wrote to these leaders.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2020