ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has prepared a list of candidates for the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir which will be finalsied by party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after interviewing the aspirants.

This was stated at a meeting of the parliamentary board for Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections held at Zardari House in Islamabad with party leader Faryal Talpur in the chair.

All members of the board, including PPP Secretary General Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Faisal Rathore, attended the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Talpur, who is the president of the central women’s wing of the party, said PPP is the only party whose chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was raising voice for Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

She said had there been a PPP government in Pakistan, India would never have the courage to oppress the people of held Kashmir.

Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had said Kashmir is ours and we will fight for it for a hundred years, she added.

She said Benazir Bhutto had given a clear message to India by taking a delegation from the held Jammu and Kashmir to the UN General Assembly. She said Ms Bhutto highlighted the Kashmir cause at the international level. Because of her leadership, members of the British parliament, including Mr Galloway, continued to raise their voices for the independence of held Kashmir.

Ms Talpur said it was unfortunate that after the overthrow of the government of Ms Bhutto in 1996, the Kashmir issue was put on hold and a character assassination drive was launched against the British MP Mr Galloway causing damage to the Kashmir cause.

She said former president Asif Ali Zardari also highlighted the Kashmir issue at the international level and parliamentary delegations from Pakistan kept raising their voice for Kashmir at the international level.

She said self-determination is a democratic and fundamental right of Kashmiris.

Now the only ray of hope for Kashmiris is PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who is the political successor of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

The PPP chairman is raising his voice for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, Ms Talpur said, adding: “Prime Minister Imran Khan has sacrificed Kashmir for the love of [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi.”

“The failed foreign policy of the present government has encouraged Modi to commit atrocities in occupied Kashmir,” she said.

The list of candidates and recommendations for tickets will be presented to the PPP chairman who will make the final decision, she said.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2021