KARACHI, Sept 10: National Kashmir Committee chairman Sardar Abdul Qayyum has said sham elections will not solve the lingering dispute of Kashmir where during the last 13 years of liberation struggle over 80,000 people have been killed by the Indian forces.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday along with Ghulam Muhammad Safi, a local leader of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC), Sardar Qayyum called upon the Indian government to withdraw its 0.8 million troops from occupied Kashmir instead of indulging in holding fake polls and hold meaningful dialogues with Pakistan and the APHC to find a peaceful solution to the issue.

He urged the free world to take notice of the situation in Kashmir where Indian government has made all arrangements to rig elections being held under the supervision of its army.

Sardar Qayyum, who would leave on a tour of friendly Muslim countries on Wednesday to apprise the leaders of the prevailing situation in the occupied valley, rejected Indian claim that polls in the valley were a substitute to the Kashmiris’ right of self-determination.

“Those elected in the sham elections will take oath under the Indian constitution and they could not continue the liberation struggle,” he pointed out.

In reply to a question he said he would be visiting Saudia Arabia, Turkey, the UAE and Egypt and brief the leaders about the situation and ask them to use their influence to prevail sanity on the Indian leadership.

“Election in Kashmir is a controversial issue and during the visit it will be comprehensively discussed,” Sardar Qayyum said, adds APP. The Kashmir committee is addressing the issue arising out from the misunderstandings created as a result of Indian propaganda.