MUZAFFARABAD: Once a formidable political force in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the Muslim Conference (MC) on Monday announced that it would field candidates in all 45 constituencies in the upcoming general elections, declaring itself a guarantor of the dignity of future generations.

“By weakening the Muslim Conference, political parties and political workers in the state have been rendered undignified. However, time, circumstances and experience have greatly enhanced the importance and relevance of the Muslim Conference,” said Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, party’s president and former AJK premier, while addressing ‘Kashmir Banega Pakistan’(Kashmir Will Become Pakistan) Convention here.

The event was organised by the MC’s Muzaffarabad division.

Sardar Attique said the party’s core committee had decided to contest elections from all constituencies. “We will fight the next election with full strength, preparation and commitment,” he added.

The Muslim Conference, which remained in power several times before the 2011 general elections, began to witness a decline in parliamentary politics with the establishment of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the region in 2010.

In 2006, the party formed its second consecutive government with Sardar Attique at the helm. However, in the 2011 elections it was reduced to three seats, and in the past two elections it has managed to secure only one seat, won by Sardar Attique from Bagh district.

Amid speculation that the MC was keen on forging an electoral alliance with the PML-N for the forthcoming polls, it recently suffered a setback when its chief organiser and Sardar Attique’s son-in-law, Saqib Majeed, parted ways with the party and joined the PML-N.

Apparently alluding to this development, Sardar Attique said his party’s relationship with Pakistan was not conditional upon the conduct of any government or political party.

“Just as in the past, we want to maintain our unconditional commitment to Pakistan in the future as well,” he said.

A supporter of the military’s role in politics, Sardar Attique described Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos as a reflection of Pakistan’s defensive capability, saying that “military democracy and military diplomacy have highlighted Pakistan’s importance across the world.”

He asserted that “Kashmir Banega Pakistan” was not merely a slogan but a guarantee of a secure future for South Asia. “All the sacrifices made so far in the state of Jammu and Kashmir are solely linked to accession to Pakistan. The foundation of our present freedom also rests on this very ideology. No human being, let alone even a kitten, has been sacrificed in Kashmir for any other ideology,” he said.

He maintained that the hundreds of thousands of martyrs in occupied Jammu and Kashmir could never go in vain.

The MC president was of the view that the threads of instability in AJK were linked to multiple conspiracies. “Instability in the liberated territory is the outcome of India’s long-standing desire, while certain Western powers want to create an atmosphere of chaos at China’s doorstep,” he said.

According to him, the concept of an independent Kashmir was contrary to the principles of the freedom of the subcontinent and could push the people of Kashmir into a blind alley. “For several understandable reasons, the slogan of an independent Kashmir is absolutely impractical.

The independence of any one state in this region could subject the entire region to a fresh process of division,” he added.

Former MC president Mirza Muhammad Shafiq Jarral, Secretary General Mehrun Nisa, Maqsood Ahmed Sheikh, Shamim Ali Malick, Sardar Usman Attique, Samia Sajid, Maimoona Kayani and several other speakers also addressed the convention.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2026