CAMPBELLPUR: Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto reaffirmed here today [Jan 27] at a public meeting Pakistan’s irrevocable stand on Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination and warned that any unilateral settlement or understanding reached between Shaikh Abdullah and Indian Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi will not at all be binding. … Mr Bhutto referred to Shaikh Abdullah’s plea for the opening of [the] Rawalpindi-Srinagar road and noted that it was a national route to which he as a Muslim should be attached. … Touching on home politics the Prime Minister castigated [the] Opposition for what he characterised [as] its anti-people and anti-democratic role to foist a minority Government on the country … to exploit and oppress people. — Islamabad Bureau

[Meanwhile, as reported by our staff reporter,] Prof Shakir Ali, 59, one of the pioneers of modern art in Pakistan, and a former Principal of National College of Fine Arts, Lahore, died ... in Mayo Hospital, Lahore, yesterday [Jan 27]. The second eminent artist to die [within a] fortnight, Prof Shakir Ali had [an] attack of paralysis when he was presiding over a condolence meeting for late Abdul Rehman Chughtai who had died … on Jan 17.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2025