SIALKOT, Sept 16: Kashmiri people are ready to give land in Muzaffarabad for the construction of a dam (in place of Kalabagh) if all the four provinces would agree.

This was offered by a senior leader of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan’s media advisor Mirza Shafiq Jaral at a meeting of Kashmiri people here on Tuesday.

He said the construction of a dam at Muzaffarabad would be beneficial for the country. Muzaffarabad was situated on the border with the NWFP, he added.

Mr Jaral was of the view that issues like the LFO and Gen Musharraf’s uniform were damaging the Kashmir freedom movement.

MINISTER SPEAKS: Meanwhile, NWFP senior minister Sirajul Haq urged the government to take all the four provinces into confidence over the issue of construction of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams.

He was addressing a meeting of the Jamaat-i-Islami workers here. MMA MPA Arshad Mahmood Baggu and district JI amir Abdul Qadeer Rahi were also present on the occasion.

Mr Haq said construction of Kalabagh Dam would affect Swabi, Charsadda, Noshera and Peshawar. He said every project of national importance should be taken up with consensus.

TRADERS’ STRIKE: Traders on Tuesday observed token hunger strike in the city against the income tax universal self-assessment scheme, sales tax and property tax.

They set up a camp at Allama Iqbal Chowk here. They refused to deposit forms under the universal self-assessment scheme. They rejected tax laws and warned the government of civil disobedience movement if their demands were not accepted.

The office-bearers of Sialkot Markazi Anjuman Tajran urged the government to honour traders’ demands.

However, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and other leading traders’ bodies kept silence in this regard.