MUZAFFARABAD: The Senate of Pakistan will hold a special session in the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Aug 5 to express solidarity with Kashmiris and condemn abolition of the special status of occupied Kashmir by India on the occasion of unlawful move’s first anniversary.

This was conveyed by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, according to a statement issued by the latter’s office on Sunday.

Legal experts said it would be for the first time in the history of Pakistan that any chamber of parliament holding its extraordinary sitting in a territory that is not part of the federation.

“Holding of a special sitting by the Senate of Pakistan in the base camp of freedom movement [AJK] against the backdrop of India’s constitutional terrorism of Aug 5, 2019, carries great significance, apart from being an extraordinary expression of eternal bonds of love and brotherhood between the Kashmiris and Pakistan,” observed Mr Haider, according to the statement.

The AJK premier maintained that occupied Jammu and Kashmir had become the largest human prison in the world after India’s Aug 5 move.

“India has been constantly denying permission to international media to visit occupied Kashmir freely, which in itself forms a charge sheet against her. Contrarily, Azad Kashmir has always been open to the foreigners and recently we invited a group of foreign correspondents to visit the Line of Control to gain firsthand information of the situation,” he said.

Mr Haider emphatically said that not a single Kashmiri on either side of the divide had accepted India’s actions regarding occupied Kashmir and observance of Black Day on Aug 5 by the people of Pakistan and Kashmir would reaffirm it.

The AJK premier maintained that none other than a plebiscite in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions offered an amicable solution to the longstanding issue and the world must come forward for its actualisation in the interest of global peace.

He reiterated his suggestion that settlement of the Kashmir issue required practical steps [on the part of Pakistan and AJK], beyond the ritual diplomatic, political and moral support.

“As the world has come to realise to a great extent about the harrowing situation in occupied Kashmir, it is high time for some solid practical steps to ensure settlement of this long running issue in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” he stressed.

Mr Haider said that since the unresolved Kashmir issue served as a permanent threat to world peace, its solution in conformity with the principles of truth and justice was therefore collective responsibility of the international community.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2020