HYDERABAD, Jan 10: Former Ameer Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Azad Kashmir Maulana Abdur Rasheed Turabi has warned that if Indian-occupied Kashmir does not get liberation, it will not only lead to Pakistan turning into a barren wasteland but the country will cause insurmountable energy crisis.

Speaking at Kashmir conference held at Markaz Tableegh-i-Islam here on Tuesday, Mr Turabi said that Quaid-i-Azam's words that Kashmir was Pakistan’s jugular vein had been uttered with full responsibility keeping in view its importance for the country’s very existence.

Pakistan badly needed sweet water not only for its agriculture but also for the production of hydel power, a fact well understood by India hence its occupation of Kashmir, he said.

He said that the people of Kashmir had been fighting 700,000 personnel of Indian army for their freedom with full moral support of Pakistani nation for last 16 years.

All the Pakistani governments had been supporting Kashmir cause except the present government, which had taken a U-turn on Kashmir policy, he said.