AS the campaign for elections in Azad Kashmir heats up, political rivals are hurling all kinds of accusations at each other on matters that should remain insulated from partisan one-upmanship. PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz is leading her party’s campaign and drawing large, impassioned crowds at her rallies. The PTI has announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan will also soon be hitting the campaign trail in AJK to help the party cross the winning line. Tradition holds that the party in power in the centre usually wins in AJK though the opposition this time is claiming it would defy this tradition and vanquish the PTI. The PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also delivered fiery speeches at his rallies — often times taking a dig at the PML-N leadership too — but has now travelled to the United States with less than two weeks to go till the Kashmir elections.

While the rivals have talked about how they have contributed to developing the region, it is being noted with a degree of concern that the handling of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is also becoming a point of contention in this campaign. Ms Nawaz has been bitterly criticising Prime Minister Khan for doing nothing while India revoked the special status of India-held Kashmir and converted it into a union territory. She has also been consistently saying her party would not allow the PTI government to convert Azad Kashmir into a province, thereby insinuating that the ruling party intends to make AJK a part of Pakistan. Ms Nawaz knows well any such step would be against the UN resolutions on Kashmir that have formed the basis of Pakistan’s official position on the dispute. This is a grave charge to make against a rival and not entirely fair. The prime minister has been advocating a clear position on India’s illegal steps of Aug 5, 2019, and has said there would be no normalisation of relations, and no official dialogue or negotiations with India till it reverses this step. No political leader has advocated a departure from our principled position which illustrates the broad consensus that Pakistani political leaders have on the Kashmir issue. This consensus gives the policy strength. Partisan rivalries should not weaken it under any circumstances.

It is therefore important for politicians campaigning in Azad Kashmir to be very careful not to generate a needless controversy over our policy on the dispute. When politicians accuse each other of ‘selling out’ on Kashmir, or going soft on the issue, they do a disservice to this just cause. This is a critical time for the Kashmir issue and the Pakistani leadership needs to be cognisant of the fact that confusion, obfuscation and unsubstantiated allegations can have an adverse impact on how the international community perceives our approach to the dispute. A wiser choice of words would do everyone good.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2021