LAHORE, Dec 8: Kashmiri leaders have rejected President Musharraf’s proposal to withdraw the Kashmir dispute from the UN Security Council.

At a joint press conference at the JKLF office here on Friday, they said the proposal had sent a wave of resentment among the people of Kashmir who would never surrender their right to self-determination as guaranteed by the UN through its resolutions.

“The president has no right to withdraw the Kashmir dispute from the UN or put aside its resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir.”

They said the people of Kashmir would never accept any solution to the dispute which was not acceptable to them. Pakistan’s historic stand on Kashmir was that the people of Kashmir should be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination.

They said only the people of Kashmir had a right to take a decision about their political future. “No other person has any authority to decide our future.”

They demanded both Pakistan and India should withdraw their troop from Kashmir and allow its people to take a decision about their future. Both the countries were spending billions of rupees on their military in Kashmir which could be diverted to alleviate poverty of their people.

They said both factions of APHC had rejected President Musharraf’s proposals and majority of the leaders of Azad Kashmir had also opposed them. However, pro-India Kashmiri leaders like Omar Abdullah had welcomed the proposals.

They said Musharraf’s another proposal of joint administration of the Jammu and Kashmir state by both the countries was impracticable.

Those who addressed the press conference included Voice of Kashmir chairman Ghulam Nabi Lone, JKLF’s Punjab president Syed Faisal Nazki, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Muslim League’s Punjab president Farooq Azad, Azad Kashmir Jamaat-i-Islami’s political wing chairman Ijaz Kiani, AJK PPP general secretary Naeem Shaharyar, Abdus Samad Bagri and Asif Akbar.