MUZAFFARABAD, July 25: People’s Party leader and former senior minister of Azad Kashmir Sahibzada Mohammad Ishaq Zafar on Friday called upon New Delhi to allow the movement of people and traffic on the Neelum valley’s main road by halting shelling from across the Line of Control.
“India should stop shelling of innocent civilian population in the Neelum valley and elsewhere along the LoC on humanitarian basis for the success of the proposed talks with Pakistan as part of the peace initiatives,” he told newsmen after a three-day visit to the valley.
The PPAJK leader urged the major powers, including the United States and Britain, to take cognizance of the situation along the LoC and said it could jeopardize the peace process.
The Neelum valley road being in the range of India’s small arms fire has been closed to traffic since long. The two alternative routes are dilapidated and long, besides also being vulnerable to India’s artillery fire at several points.
Early this month, Indian troops had announced through loudspeakers that they would no longer target the main road and that it should be opened for traffic. Following the announcement, AJK authorities sent bulldozers to clear the road of landslides and do the repair work. However, the road is yet to be opened for traffic as Indian shelling has not stopped completely.
“The unabated Indian shelling is tormenting the residents of Neelum valley, where the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed, sources of income have dried up and their purchasing power has almost finished,” Sahibzada Zafar said.
He said that on the one hand India was harping on the peace process and on the other its troops were not only engaged in atrocities in occupied Kashmir but also shelling of civilians in Azad Kashmir.
“Continuation of such circumstances will render the peace process ineffective and worthless particularly from the Kashmiris’ point of view,” he said and emphasized that the Indian government and its troops should show “flexibility in their attitudes to make the peace initiatives result-oriented.”
“Opening of the Neelum valley road will be a litmus test for India,” he stressed.
He asked the AJK government to take up the issue of the closure of the road with the federal government so that the problem could figure in talks at the international level.
“It is a very serious issue for more than 150,000 residents of the valley, who have literally become hostage because of the perpetual closure of the road,” he remarked.
Sahibzada Zafar demanded that the AJK government should immediately initiate work on the second phase of the Jagran hydropower project.
The project, he said, would augment AJK’s income and provide employment to the residents.
He said that the Kuttan colony, built and used by the foreign staff of the French and Swedish consortium during the construction of Jagran phase-I, should be handed over to the AJK health department for utilization as a hospital.