ISLAMABAD: Kashmir Committee Chairman Mau­lana Fazlur Rehman has said that peace in South Asia is linked to restoration of good relations between Pakistan and India, which, he added, was not possible without resolving the Kashmir issue.

Addressing a seminar held in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day here on Sunday, he said Kashmiris had been rendering sacrifices for the right to self-determination and Pakistan stood with them for resolving the issue as per their aspirations.

Also read: Kashmir dispute must be resolved for peace in region: Rashid

Maulana Fazl, who heads his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, criticised the international community for its discriminatory attitude towards the Kashmir dispute.

He said India had been refusing to implement the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council on the issue of Kashmir, even though the whole world recognised it as a dispute.

In his address, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said Pakistan would continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their just struggle for right to self-determination.

He said that settlement of Kashmir dispute was imperative for durable peace in South Asia because it would bring prosperity to the region and its people would get rid of illiteracy and poverty.

He asked the government in New Delhi to fulfil its promise of holding referendum in India-held Kashmir, adding that without doing so India would not be able to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council

Muslim Conference Presi­dent Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan said the Kashmir freedom movement had entered a new phase after elections in India.

“We believe in dialogue to resolve the issue.”

Published in Dawn February 2nd , 2015

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