MUZAFFARABAD: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), an organisation advocating reunification and complete independence of the divided erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, called upon Islamabad on Saturday to have a “serious review” of its policy on the disputed Himalayan region in the wake of India’s unilateral Aug 5, 2019 actions.

“Pakistan should formally rescind the Simla Agreement of 1972 with India to free itself as well as the Kashmiris from the futility of bilateralism and take the issue of Kashmir to the UNSC,” said the JKLF in an open letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a copy of which was also emailed to Dawn.

Pakistan’s failure to engage with the UN had enabled India to continue its aggression against the Kashmiris, the organisation said in the more than 2,200-word letter signed by its acting chairman Raja Muhammed Haq Nawaz Khan.

The JKLF asserted that the “lack of meaningful political and diplomatic measures on the part of Pakistan” to counter India’s illegal unilateral action of Aug 5, 2019 had subsequently intensified “serious apprehensions among the Kashmiris about Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and policy on the status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).”

In open letter to PM, JKLF laments ‘lack of meaningful measures’ from Islamabad

“For almost 75 years, the Kashmiris have come to expect Pakistan’s ardent support for their right to freely decide on the status of their internationally disputed homeland. There is a painful realisation, especially since August 2019, that Pakistan’s stated policy of support for the struggle and territorial integrity of Kashmir within the UN Charter and relevant UNSC resolutions has changed.”

In its letter, the JKLF maintained that the Indian move was a fundamental departure from the historical context of the issue, which required a “robust political and diplomatic response” from Pakistan. “But Islamabad’s response can hardly be considered appropriate, let alone robust.”

“Far from having to explain her [India’s] aggression against Kashmir to the UNSC, the Indian government has been emboldened, despite having defied the UN resolutions 38, 91, and 122 with Kashmir’s annexation,” it added.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022