MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 5: Kashmiris on Friday staged rallies and demonstrations to mark the day as “right to self-determination day” and remind the international community, especially the UN, that a resolution pledging them their inalienable right to determine their future was yet to be implemented.

In Muzaffarabad, a march was organised from the site of the old civil secretariat at the conclusion of a public meeting.

Led by AJK Minister for Rehabilitation Sanaullah Qadri, the march ended outside the UN Military Observers’ office in Domel. A memorandum calling for implementation of the world body’s resolutions on Kashmir was delivered.

On Jan 5, 1949, the UN Security Council had passed a resolution, envisaging the right of self-determination to Kashmiris regarding accession of their divided state to India or Pakistan on their own free will.

However, pro-independence groups, such as JKLF and NSF, stage protest rallies on Jan 5 and call for implementation of an earlier Security Council resolution which also provided the option of Kashmir’s independence.

Earlier, speaking at a public meeting AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan also pointed out that India itself had taken Kashmir issue to the UN and it should implement the world body’s resolutions on the issue instead of making false claims of “atoot ang” on the disputed region.

He asserted that President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s four-point proposal for settlement of Kashmir issue was in line with the UN resolutions as both called for phased withdrawal of (Pakistani and Indian) troops from the Himalayan region.

He said that it also provided a safe passage to Indian government in the troubled Kashmir region.

Mr Khan praised Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that despite entangled by internal compulsions he was talking positively. He urged Mr Singh to take bold decisions at the earliest so that a lasting peace could make way to the subcontinent.

He also welcomed a statement by occupied Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad regarding held Kashmir’s own army but said that the proposed army should comprise Kashmiris and protect them instead of siding with the forces of tyrants.

The AJK prime minister also announced that his government would provide jobs to unemployed professionals from the held Kashmir in AJK for five to ten years and asked Mr Azad to facilitate the decision.

“We are in need of doctors, engineers, architects and other highly skilled people whereas a number of such people in held Kashmir are without jobs. Therefore I have decided that we will provide them jobs here,” he said.

He criticised Baroness Emma Nicholson’s report on Kashmir, terming it disappointing for Kashmiris for being against the ground realities. “Across the Line of Control, the Indian army has unleashed a reign of terror whereas here the Pakistani troops have been playing a major role in rescue, relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake,” he said.

In the southern Mirpur district a big public meeting was held under the aegis of Jammu Kashmir People’s Muslim League (JKPML) to mark the Kashmir day.

Speaking on the occasion, PML president Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry urged the international community to play a decisive role for an early and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiri people.

“It must not be forgotten that any solution which does not take into account the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris will never last long,” he said.