KARACHI, March 6 Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Mohammed Farooq Hyder Khan has said that the Kashmir cause suffered great damage during the government of former president General Pervez Musharraf.

Speaking to journalists after visiting the Quaid-i-Azam mausoleum, where he laid a wreath and offered Fateha, on Saturday, the AJK premier suggested reframing of Pakistan's policy on Kashmir envisaging ideological and natural outlook of the valley.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Saleem Zia and leaders of the Muslim Conference were also present.

Raja Farooq said that since 1947, over 600,000 Kashmiris had laid down their lives in the struggle for their legitimate rights usurped by the occupation forces.

He recalled that in 1944 the Quaid-i-Azam at a meeting in Srinagar had established a relationship between the peoples of Kashmir and Pakistan but even 63 years since the independence of Pakistan, the Kashmiri people were struggling for their right to self-determination.

Raja Farooq appreciated PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif's categorical statement that “Kashmir is Pakistan's lifeline” and hoped that Mr Sharif would continue to extend his full support and his party would play its due role in achieving the right to self-determination for the Kashmiri people.

In reply to a question, he said that the Kashmir cause suffered the greatest harm during former president General Pervez Musharraf's era, and observed that Kashmir policy had been ignored and no effort made to ensure the implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir under his leadership.

About his current visit to Karachi, the AJK premier said he would hold a meeting with the provincial authorities and discuss with them the issues relating to the Kashmiris living in the province. These issues included admissions to the local educational institutions and jobs for the Kashmiri people, he added.—APP