LAHORE, Feb 10: The Kashmir Committee Chairman, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, on Sunday denied that Kashmir policy was being rolled back.
Speaking at a round-table conference on ‘Requirements of Solidarity with Kashmir’ arranged by the Pakistan Institute of National Affairs (PINA), he said it was only a propaganda being spread in Pakistan as well as in held Kashmir.
The Kashmir Committee was also being dubbed as an alternative to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to create a rift among the Kashmiris he said, adding, ‘we announced that all the decisions of the APHC would be acceptable to us to counter the propaganda.’
Claiming the Kargil war had benefited the Kashmir cause, he said there was no confusion in Gen Musharraf’s policy on the issue. He, however, criticized that the officers deputed to handle the Kashmir case were incompetent as they were not aware of the psyche of the people.
He claimed even the Kashmiris who were now apparently siding with India would, if given a chance, vote in favour of Pakistan.
Admitting that the sacrifices of Mujahideen had brought the issue to the decisive stage, he, however, said there were flaws in their strategy which had been pointed out to them many a times.
Saying the military balance was in favour of Pakistan in the current scenario, he said had India been able to attack Pakistan it would have done so ignoring all warnings of the US or any other power.
The Kashmir Committee would build an intellectual consensus in the country on the issue besides organizing a media drive to clear the misunderstanding being created about the problem.
Former chairman of Kashmir Committee and veteran politician Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan regretted that country’s foreign policy had failed as not a single Muslim state had openly condemned the deployment of Indian forces on our borders.
He was also critical of the authorities who failed to convene even any emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries on the issue.
About Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism, he said the Line of Control was not an international border and there was no question of border violation. Moreover, as Kashmir was a proven disputed territory and Pakistan was a party in the dispute, it had the right to provide all kind of help to the Kashmiris facing atrocities, he said.
He said waging Jihad was not terrorism as it was an option to help the victims and a doctrine of the Quran. ‘We are not permitted even to defend ourselves while India was committing atrocities in the Valley through its 800,000 strong forces’, he lamented.
Former foreign minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali said balance in three factors — national security, economic strength and political stability — was necessary for the success of the country.
He blamed the government institutions for organizing the sectarian military groups. He also chided the military, saying it sabotaged the Lahore Declaration by occupying the Kargil heights when Vajpayee was holding peace talks with Nawaz Sharif. ‘Now Vajpayee is saying that Pakistanis are liars and how can he hold talks with such people.’
Lt-Gen Nishat Ahmad (retired) stressed on finding a political solution to the issue, saying Pakistan got damaged in the fallout of every military attempt to solve Kashmir.
He said the country had been set on the right track after the Sept 11 incident.
Air Vice-Marshal Khursheed Anwar Mirza (retired) said history revealed the diplomacy alone could never ensure solution to any problem.
He said Kargil war was miscalculated which also damaged the Kashmir cause by exposing that Pakistan was involved in cross-border terrorism.
Upholding the ban on Jihadi outfits, he said it must not affect the liberation movement of Kashmiris and Pakistan should continue providing all kinds of help to the freedom fighters.
In his keynote address, known analyst Ataur Rahman elaborated various options and possibilities available to Pakistan for forming its future Kashmir policy inviting the speakers to discuss these aspects.