MUZAFFARABAD: A pro-Pakistan Kashmiri leader on Wednesday paid tribute to a pro-independence organisation for its initiative of a march towards the LoC and said there was a dire need to take “solid steps” for liberation of oppr­e­ssed Kashmiris in India-held territory.

Syed Salahuddin, supreme comma­n­der of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of around a dozen groups who have waged an armed struggle against the Indian occupation of the disputed region said that Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was “justified and on right path” in holding the march towards the LoC.

“Your initiative — LoC march — is the most important need of time to draw the attention of the international community and international organisations towards the alarming situation in occupied Kashmir,” said Mr Salahuddin, in his address by phone to the participants of the JKLF-led sit-in near Jiskool.

Earlier, while talking to Dawn, Mr Salahuddin suggested that a “national mass movement” towards the dividing line was indispensable to draw world attention.

Meanwhile, according to sources, AJK administration officials held talks with the JKLF leaders at Chinari rest house for more than an hour on Wednesday to persuade them to call off their march, but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2019