Call for including Kashmiri leadership in Indo-Pak talks

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Welcoming the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, Kashmir Committee chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the Kashmir issue and the Kashmiri leadership should also feature in upcoming deliberations.

During a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal here, Rehman demanded the participation of the Kashmiri leadership in any upcoming India-Pakistan talks, The News reports.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is likely to visit Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Qureshi has already said that all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

He has also made it clear that people should not expect any ‘miracle’ from the upcoming meeting.

“Don’t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” Qureshi had said earlier. (ANI)

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Terrorism and Kashmir should be on top priority: Pak media

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

As India and Pakistan gear up for a meeting of their foreign ministers to nudge forward the bilateral peace process, the two sides will have to focus on key issues like terrorism and Kashmir and put in place new confidence-building measures, the Pakistani media said today.

While tackling the menace of terrorism is necessary to prevent another Mumbai-like incident that could stall the peace process, Pakistan needs to focus on the trial of suspects linked to the carnage in the Indian financial hub that claimed 166 lives in November 2008, leading newspapers said.

During a telephone conversation on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S M Krishna agreed to meet in Islamabad on July 15 for talks.

Their meeting will be preceded by talks between Indian Home Minister P Chidambaran and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik and the two Foreign Secretaries on June 26.

The News daily, in its editorial “Pakistan-India talks, noted that Qureshi had said “terrorism will figure as a key issue in the talks”.

It further said: “We know this is essential. If the matter is not tackled we run the risk of seeing another episode, such as that in 2008, throwing the dialogue effort into a nosedive.”

“To avoid this, the question of militancy needs to be dealt with. The matter of Kashmir stands at the centre of this,” it added.

The News said that while it might not be possible to immediately open talks on the Kashmir dispute, both countries “would do well to keep in mind that moving towards a resolution is essential to lasting peace. Necessary confidence-building measures may be adopted ahead of broaching the Kashmir issue, but in the final analysis it is this region which acts to generate militancy.”

The influential Dawn newspaper, in an editorial titled “A fresh start?”, said improving relations seems to be on the minds of both countries for the first time since the Mumbai attacks and “India and Pakistan must seize whatever opportunities that come their way to put their volatile relationship on firmer footing”.

It also listed two opportunities that could set the stage for a “real breakthrough” during the meeting of the foreign ministers in July.

One was the meetings between the interior ministers and foreign secretaries in June and the other was action by Pakistan “to inject new life” into the trial by an anti-terrorism court of seven suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks.

The Dawn noted that this trial “is moving desultorily, marred by countless adjournments”.

It added that India was “still very concerned about the relative lack of action here in Pakistan against those linked to the Mumbai attacks”.

“Yes, the wheels of justice move slowly in the subcontinent, but there is a sense that concluding the trial of the Mumbai suspects is not as much a matter of concern as it should be. A more vigorous trial could go some way to ease Indian suspicions,” the editorial said.

At the same time, India “needs to make some gesture which demonstrates it genuinely wants a result-oriented dialogue process, and not just endless talks about talks that produce photo-ops and little else. Perhaps India should think about concluding a deal on Siachen and Sir Creek, two issues where the bureaucrats have come close to sealing a final settlement,” it added.

The Daily Times, in its editorial “Dialogue matters”, acknowledged that in the wake of the conviction of Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab for his role in the Mumbai attacks, the issue of terrorism “will obtain top billing” in the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers.

“It is wise of Mr Qureshi to keep repeating that any attempts by non-state actors to disrupt the peace process should not achieve their objective.

“It is also very refreshing to note that our foreign minister is not entertaining any delusions about the ‘uphill task’ that such a dialogue is, especially when it is occurring between two historically, and mutually, suspicious neighbours.

“He has cautioned the public not to expect a resolution to Kashmir and other such prickly issues overnight, and rightly so,” the daily said.

It hoped that the move by Pakistan and India to bridge their trust deficit and overcome accusations will lead to mutually beneficial conclusions for both countries.

“Officially recognised as democracies, dialogue is the only way forward for both India and Pakistan as a means to usher in more civilised norms of conduct and normal relations,” the newspaper said.

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Kasuri’s ‘Kashmir issue near resolution claim’ nothing but ‘delusion’: Observers

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 11 (ANI): Rubbishing former foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s claims that the Kashmir issue was about to be resolved during former President General Pervez Musharraf’s, participants of a seminar titled “The Near Agreement. What it was” have described such assertions a mere ‘delusion’.

Speaking during the seminar, Nazir Ahmed Shaal, Executive Director Kashmir Centre London, said there were no evidence which suggested that the Kashmir issue was about to be resolved during the Musharraf era.

While stressing that the right to self-determination of the people of Kashmir was “non-negotiable”, Shaal said people who are revolting against India’s control over the region must be brought to the dialogue table if the two countries are serious about resolving the long pending issue.

Kashmir Centre Brussels Executive Director Majeed Tramboo also rejected Kasuri’s claims, saying none of the prominent Kashmiri leaders were taken on board for any such deliberations.

“Not a single prominent Kashmiri leader was taken on board. India and Pakistan primarily reduced it to a bilateral territorial dispute in the process,” The Daily Times quoted Tramboo, as saying.

“We challenge Kasuri to identify a single person from either part of Kashmir who was part of the discussions,” he added.

Reiterating the Pakistani leadership’s long-standing view, Tramboo said that the Kashmir issue must be addressed keeping in mind the United Nations’ (UN) resolutions.

“No solution to the issue will be acceptable other than the implementation of the United Nations (UN) resolutions or the right to self-determination,” he said. (ANI)

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Pak back to singing K-issue settlement through UN resolution tune

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 4 (ANI): Harping upon the country’s same old jaded tune of resolving the long pending Kashmir issue in accordance with the United Nation’s (UN) resolution, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that any resolution to the issue would not be durable until the Kashmiris are not made a part of it.

Briefing the National Assembly about the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government’s Kashmir policy, Qureshi said Islamabad has always pushed for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in the light of the United Nations resolutions of 1948 and 1949, and according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, and would continue to do so.

“We are firm to our stance and shall continue extending moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination. It is our principle stand on Kashmir and we shall continue efforts for a durable and peaceful resolution of this issue,” The News quoted Qureshi, as saying.

He described the Kashmir issue as the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, and said: “We cannot be oblivious to it. But, we desire a peaceful resolution through dialogue. That is the only way forward.”

Qureshi also claimed that prior to the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, both Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari, during a meeting, had agreed to continue the peace talks and seek a amicable resolution of the Kashmir issue.

He said the Pakistan Government is in constant touch with the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), as it believes that a durable solution to the issue is not possible without involving the region’s leadership.

Qureshi’s statement are in clear contrast to former Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, who had claimed that India and Pakistan, through back-channel diplomacy, had evolved an ‘interim’ agreement on the Kashmir issue, and that it was subject to review after 15 years.

Kasuri said that both New Delhi and Islamabad, while working out the agreement, had realised that in view of the long standing dispute over Kashmir, none of the solutions that they evolve would resolve the issue, so the ‘interim’ agreement was the best possible solution available under circumstances at that time.

“We were aware of the fact that there would be an overwhelming support for this agreement; but we also realised that there would be criticism from some sections in Kashmir, Pakistan and India,” Kasuri had said earlier. (ANI)

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For Pakistan, Kashmir is a matter of life and death : JUI-F

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Karachi, Apr.29 (ANI): Describing the Kashmir issue as a matter of ‘life and death’ for Pakistan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has reiterated Islamabad’s long standing demand of resolving the Kashmir issues in accordance with the United Nations (UN) resolutions.

Speaking during a seminar titled: “Kashmiris Right of Self Determination”, Rahman said Kashmir was of utmost importance for Pakistan.

Citing China’s claims over Taiwan, he said Pakistan should also follow Beijing’s approach while dealing with the Kashmir issues.

“China has been single-mindedly pursuing its case for Taiwan.Much can be learnt from Chinese experience. Unfortunately Pakistan’s foreign policy is not truly reflective of consistency that a matter like Kashmir deserves and requires,” The Nation quoted Rahman, as saying.

“The people of Kashmir enlivened Kashmiri movement with their sacrifices but the Shimla Pact diluted the very international nature of Kashmir dispute. There have been several solutions for the Kashmir problem but the best one will be one that is based upon peaceful accommodation between the two countries,” he added.

Rahman said that post 9/11, Pakistan’s Kashmir policy had suffered great setbacks, and that it has now become a question of Pakistan’s survival.

“Today this problem was no longer Kashmir oriented. It is now a problem of Pakistan’s existence for Pakistan’s agriculture has been facing direct consequences of water terrorism by India,” he said.

Speaking during the seminar, Dr. Moonis Ahmar, chairman Department of International Relations, Karachi University, described the Kashmir issue as a ‘human’ problem.

Ahmar emphasized upon a peaceful solution for the Kashmir problem, saying its solution could fundamentally alter the lives of more than one billion people in South Asia.

“Practical measures should be taken towards the direction of Kashmir’s resolution because the absence of peace has proved to be detrimental to the common interests of common people of the region,” he said. (ANI)

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India-Pak ‘interim’ agreement on Kashmir was for 15 yrs: Kasuri

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Apr.28 (ANI): Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri has revealed that India and Pakistan, through back-channel diplomacy, had evolved an ‘interim’ agreement on the Kashmir issue, and that it was subject to review after 15 years.

Kasuri said that both New Delhi and Islamabad, while working out the agreement, had realised that in view of the long standing dispute over Kashmir, none of the solutions that they evolve would resolve the issue, so the ‘interim’ agreement was the best possible solution available under circumstances at that time.

“We were aware of the fact that there would be an overwhelming support for this agreement; but we also realised that there would be criticism from some sections in Kashmir, Pakistan and India,” Kasuri told The News, on the sidelines of ‘Aman Ki Asha’ – a joint peace initiative by the Jang Group of Pakistan and The Times of India.

He said it was decided that after the implementation of the said agreement, it would be monitored by all concerned parties, so that improvements could be made.

Kasuri claimed that both countries had conducted secret negotiations with all stakeholders because they wanted to avoid any spins or leaks, which could damage the level of trust between the parties.

“They could not have signed an agreement without authorisation from their respective cabinets and parliaments. The whole idea was to produce a draft which the governments of Pakistan and India felt would be acceptable to the large majority of Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Indians,” he added

Referring to allegations from religio-political parties from across the border, that the proposed agreement was an attempt to sell out Kashmir, Kasuri said the basis of the agreement was the assumption that India and Pakistan had tried everything in their power to enforce their own versions of settlement on Kashmir issue.

“They have fought five wars, including two minor ones in the Rann of Katch and Kargil. There have been various mobilisations of troops, including the largest one since First World War (Operation Parakram), in which one million soldiers remained eyeball-to-eyeball for almost a year,” he added.

Kasuri also noted that since both the neighbouring countries have acquired nuclear power, a full-scale war between them is nearly impossible.

Backing Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement that efforts were being made through the back-channel diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues with India, the former foreign minister said it was important that negotiations be resumed because Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government with which Islamabad negotiated the arrangement was still in power.

“And the BJP the other majority party had started the process during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,” he added. (ANI)

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Mirwaiz meets European Union delegation

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, Apr 20 (ANI): Mirwaiz Umar Farooq leader of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference met visiting delegates of European Union and said third party intervention in the vexed Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan has become inevitable for its ultimate settlement.

“The Hurriyat Conference has always supported the dialogue between the two countries (Indian and Pakistan) but we can”t deny the fact that both countries have differences on certain issues and I conveyed this thing to this EU delegation…we want that both countries should solve this issue through dialogue with the involvement of Kashmiri people but the circumstances suggest that there is a need of a third party to solve the issue,” said Farooq.

He also sought foreign direct investment in the power sector to tap the state”s huge hydropower potential.

He further said that the international community, mainly European Union, should push for a dialogue between India and Pakistan.

He also mentioned that New Delhi has been requested to pull out troops, release prisoners and end human rights violations before resuming peace talks.

“We conveyed our proposals very clearly to the delegation… We primarily focussed on four main points namely, release of political prisoners, revocation of strict laws, gradual demilitarisation and restoration of human rights. We made it very clear that we will not be able to push forward the dialogue process with the federal government unless these four demands are met,” Farooq said.

Earlier, the delegates from Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden also met separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani. (ANI)

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Baloch and Sindhi activists demand Pak be declared as ‘terrorist state’

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mon, Mar 29 05:17 PM

Baloch and Sindhi activists here have demanded that Pakistan be declared a ”terrorist state”.

A large number of people from the two communities converged in front of the BBC World Service office in London to protest and observe Pakistan’s illegal occupation of the “independent state” of Balochistan on March 27, 1948, a day that has since been declared as ”Black Day”.

“This is the time the world should realize and they should, I think, this is the time for the security, for the peace and for the stability of the region, and the international community that they should declare Pakistan as a terrorist state,” Samad Baloch, a member of the Baloch Human Rights Council, said.

The protest intended to tell the international community, including the UN, that Balochistan should be recognized as an occupied country.

The protesters, holding placards with anti-Pakistan slogans, its military, and human rights violations, blamed Pakistani authorities for settling Taliban militia everywhere in the country.

“Basically, they are settling Taliban everywhere; they are settling Taliban in Gilgit and Baltistan; they are settling Taliban in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir; they are settling Taliban in Sindh; they are settling Taliban in Balochistan, because they are their strategic extension,” said Lakhu Luhana, Secretary General, World Sindhi Congress, UK.

Luhana said that Sindhis and Balochs are being denied their basic rights.

“People are being disappeared, the political activists, and the Sindhi people… historical rights, political rights and legal rights and cultural rights, they have been completely denied them. There is no law and order, they have entered into poverty and suffering and that has descended on Sindh and Balochistan,” he said.

The protestors also said their struggle would continue until they had achieved their goal of a free Balochistan.

They said that Pakistan never wants to resolve the Kashmir issue, as it would then stop receiving international aid.

“If the Kashmir problem solved, how Pakistan General…becoming…take money, so they are the most corrupt army in the world, people call it fifth largest army of the world, but we say this is the most corrupt army in the world,” Mir Ghulam Hussain, Information Secretary, Baloch Human Rights Council, UK, said.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sponsoring terror in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan, which claims Kashmir in full, has consistently denied its involvement in abetting an anti-India insurgency that has killed more than 47,000 people since 1989.

Former legislative assembly member from Balochistan and member of the powerful Marri tribe, Harbiya Marri, also said that Pakistan has no intentions to have peace with India, and the dialogue between the two countries is a farce.

“They have no intention of having peace with Pakistan because they have to maintain this large army and the army is main ruler of Pakistan, which is controlling Pakistan for the last 62 years. So this is the creation of this artificial stage. So, they have to have some sort of dialogue to show we want peace but in reality the intentions are not peace. They want these camps to be maintained to keep on terrorizing Indian government, people and the whole world,” he said.

India broke off a four-year-long sluggish peace initiative with Pakistan after the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying dialogue could resume only if Islamabad acted against militants on its soil. It blamed the attacks, which killed 166 people, on Pakistan-based militants.
ANI

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Pakistan”s invitation for talks evokes mixed reaction in Kashmir

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir), Mar 26 (ANI): The Pakistani Government”s invitation to some Hurriyat Conference leaders to come for talks to resolve the Kashmir issue has evoked a mixed reaction in Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdul Gani Bhat, a senior Hurriyat leader, played down the invite asserting that a resolution of the Kashmir issue would come only through talks.

“If you ask me, I am very interested that people (Kashmiri leaders) should go there (Pakistan) and talk. People should come here and talk. They should talk here and go there, so that the process of dialogue can begin and a solution emerges,” said Bhat.

Residents in Srinagar, however, feel that Islamabad is attempting to create a wedge between the moderate and hardline Hurriyat factions to prevent the talks from being fruitful.

“It (Hurriyat Conference) is not united at all. There are certain pitfalls in the organisation. That is why the Pakistan Government is taking advantage of those pitfalls and they are sidelining some leaders of the Kashmir Valley,” claimed Shabir Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar.

Others also expressed similar views.

“If everybody had been invited it would been better for Jammu and Kashmir. It seems that Pakistan is trying to create some different situation. That is why Pakistan is inviting some and not inviting others,” observed Javaid Ahmad, another resident of Srinagar.

Pakistan has reportedly invited Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yaseen Malik for talks, but has ignored leaders like Abdul Gani Bhat, Abbas Ansari and Bilal Gani Lone. (ANI)

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Sharif urges EU to help India, Pak reduce tension and establish regional peace

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Mar.24 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has urged the European Union (EU) to play a role in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan and establish peace in the region.

During a meeting with Swedish Ambassador Urlika Sundberg and Special Envoy, Anna Karin Enestrom, here, Sharif said peace and stability can only be established in the region by resolving all outstanding problems such as the long pending Kashmir issue and issues concerning sharing of river waters between India and Pakistan.

Sharif also urged the international community to help Islamabad in the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the tribal areas and the Swat Valley, which was ruined by the ‘war on terror’.

Sundberg assured that her country, which currently holds the EU presidency, is committed to help Pakistan for the social uplift and development of the war torn tribal areas, The Daily Times reports. (ANI)

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Pak Government conspiring to divide Kashmir permanently: JUI leader

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar.16 (ANI): Criticising the present Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government for not being able to break the deadlock over the Kashmir issue, senior Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI) leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed has accused them of conspiring to divide the Kashmir region permanently between India and Pakistan.

Speaking during a function organised by the Tehreek-e-Kashmir (United Kingdom), Ahmed said the Gilani government is conspiring to make the Line of Control (LoC) a permanent border between India and Pakistan, and giving a provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan was the first step in this regard.

He termed the special autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan as ‘unconstitutional’ and urged Kashmiri people from both sides of the border to oppose the move.

Ahmed blasted Pakistani leaders of playing into the hands of international powers.

He also took a swipe at former President General Pervez Musharraf, saying he took a ‘u-turn’ on the Kashmir issue under foreign pressure, and added that the PPP government is still following Musharraf’s policies over the long pending issues.

Speaking during the function, Tehreek-e- Kashmir president Mohammad Ghalib also criticised Musharraf for compromising on Pakistan’s stance over the issue.

“Former military dictator Pervez Mushrraf has caused huge damage to Kashmir cause by accepting the dictation of foreign powers and compromising legitimate position of the country on this key issue,” The Nation quoted Ghalib, as saying. (ANI)

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Richard Holbrooke debunks talk of US mediation on Kashmir

March 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON: Without uttering the “K” word, a senior US diplomat has debunked suggestions that Washington should help India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmir issue as part of a regional approach to end the Afghan war.

“Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India… share a common strategic space,” Richard Holbrooke, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters on Tuesday.

“And in order to understand America’s policy and America’s policy dilemma, one has to understand that both India and Pakistan have legitimate security interests in the region.”

“And I’m not talking about that certain area between them which I’m not going to mention by name…because I am not going to get involved in that,” he said, carefully avoiding a reference to Kashmir so as not to step on India’s toes.

“And people who have advocated that are making a proposal which I believe runs counter to stability in Afghanistan. Afghanistan must be dealt with on its merits,” said Holbrooke, who has taken pains to stress time and again that India or Kashmir are nor part of his portfolio.

Stressing that Pakistan and India have a “complicated historic relationship” going back to partition in 1947 and before 1947 “which people must respect”, he said: “What happened then affects us today. But I need to stress that both countries have legitimate security interests (in Afghanistan).”

But as President Barack Obama, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other US officials “have said repeatedly, there are many countries that have legitimate security interests in what happens in Afghanistan”.

Asked if the issue of handing over terrorists involved in 26/11 Mumbai attacks and other terrorist attacks had come up in his talks with India and Pakistan, Holbrooke said: “Well, of course both sides raise issues like that, but it will not serve any purpose for me to make public confidential discussions.”

“Our relations with both countries are good. We are improving relations with both countries,” he said, noting: “Both in New Delhi and in Islamabad, people come up to us and say, oh, you’re pro-the other country, you’re favouring one country over another.”

“That’s not true. We are focussed on the issues themselves and on generally good relations, and we seek to do everything we can to help Pakistan economically, which is, I think – which is my highest priority,” Holbrooke said. “And we work closely with India on a whole range of issues.”

Asked if Indians in Afghanistan could feel safe after the terror attack in Kabul last week that killed 16 people, including six Indians, Holbrooke said: “First of all, in regard to this attack, I don’t accept the fact that this was an attack on an Indian facility like the embassy.

“They were foreigners, non-Indian foreigners (were also) hurt. It was a soft target. And let’s not jump to conclusions,” he said. “I understand why everyone in Pakistan and everyone in India always focuses on the other. But please, let’ s not draw a conclusion for which there’s no proof.”

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Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan: Gilani

September 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.20 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani is back to singing his ‘K-tune’ by describing Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein.

Interacting with a group of political leaders during an Iftaar party at the PM House here, Gilani said Islamabad’s policy on Kashmir was based on Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s stance that “Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan.”

Referring to the government’s recent decision to grant internal autonomy to Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilani said Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir would remain unchanged.

“I want to express in clear and unequivocal terms that this decision of the government will not bring any change in Pakistan’s principled stand on Kashmir,” Gilani said.

Gilani blamed India of neglecting the long pending Kashmir issue and said that Pakistan wants a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“We want to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully and have invited India for negotiations, despite it repeatedly ignoring them,” The Daily times quoted Gilani, as saying.

Gilani said he had categorically told Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during their meeting at the margins of the NAM summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh earlier this year that resolving the issue was very important for establishing peace in the region.

“There could be no peace in the region until the Kashmir dispute was resolved according to the aspirations of its people,” he added. (ANI)

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Pak to rake up ‘K’ issue, Indian atrocities in UN General Assembly

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.12 (ANI): Pakistan is looking to rake up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly which is scheduled to be held later this month.

According to sources, in two separate meetings held at the Foreign Office, concerned officials briefed Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi regarding both the Kashmir and Afghanistan issues.

Sources said that it was decided that Islamabad would urge the United Nations to ensure a resolution of the long-lingering Kashmir dispute on a priority basis for durable peace in the region.

“The international community would also be informed about the human rights violations committed by Indian forces in held Kashmir,” The Dawn quoted sources, as saying.

They said the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha was also present in the meeting.

According to a private television channel, Pakistan is also likely to take up the issue of presence of US led allied forces in Afghanistan

Islamabad has decided to inform the international community about the problems being faced by it due to the presence of NATO forces in Afghanistan, the channel reported.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that resolution of the Kashmir issue is the key to establishing good ties with India and restoring peace in the sub-continent.

During a meeting with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Prime Minister Sardar Yaqub Khan, Gilani said resolving the Kashmir dispute was Islamabad’s top priority. (ANI)

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Pakistan will continue to support the K-cause: Gilani

September 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Karachi, Sep.5 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again said that Islamabad would continue its support to the Kashmiri people and the government’s decision to give autonomy to Gilgit Baltistan does not mean that it has shelved the Kashmir issue.

“We gave internal autonomy, sovereignty to Gilgit Baltistan which was a long standing demand of its people but this does not mean that we have forgotten the Kashmir issue. We will continue to give moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people,” Gilani said.

The prime minister said the government had not altered its stance on the Kashmir issue by awarding autonomy to the Northern Areas.

He said Kashmir was the cornerstone of the PPP’s foreign policy, and support to the cause would continue.

Interacting with media persons during an Iftar dinner hosted by Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan, Gilani stressed that Pakistan was not a ‘failed state’, saying the country has a ‘strong democratic government, independent judiciary, free media’.

Referring to the Swat military operation, Gilani said security forces have ‘successfully’ defeated extremism and militancy with full support of the masses.

“NATO forces are fighting in Afghanistan for last five and a half years but Pakistan’s armed forces successfully carried out the operation against extremists and terrorists in Malakand in eight weeks,” The Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that there is a need to project the Kashmir issue more vigorously and the role of Kashmiri leadership was extremely important in this context.

Briefing political leaders of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) on the Gilgit-Baltistan reforms, Qureshi said resolution of the Kashmir issue was the key to a durable peace in the region.

“We feel that Kashmir dispute is central to Pakistan-India relations, which highlights the need for the Kashmiris to be associated with the dialogue process,” Qureshi said.

He assured the leaders that Pakistan has been making consistent efforts to project the Kashmir cause at various international levels.

Commenting on the water dispute with India, Qureshi said : “We have emphasized upon the Indian side that there was a need to ensure respect to Indus Waters Treaty and the commitment to address concerns related thereto.” (ANI)

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Now, Maneka Gandhi terms Jaswant Singh’s expulsion as unfair

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.29 (ANI): BJP Member of Parliament from the Aonla constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Maneka Gandhi, on Saturday extended her support to expelled party leader Jaswant Singh, saying that the party leadership had treated him unfairly with regard to his latest book on Jinnah.

Gandhi said that the decision taken at the Chintan Baithak in Shimla last week was uncalled for. She said that the BJP leadership should have read Jaswant Singh’s book first before taking a decision to expel him on disciplinary grounds.

Gandhi’s reaction came a day after Singh filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat Government’s decision to ban his latest book – Jinnah -India, Partition, Independence.

Deploring the ban of the book, Singh has already said that books are a medium of expression in the country, and professed the right to freedom of speech and expression.

He claimed that a ban on books actually means a ban on thinking.

“I am greatly saddened by it because the other example takes you to Salman Rusdie and Satanic Verses. The day we start banning books in India, we are banning thinking,” Jaswant had said while returning back from Shimla after his expulsion from the BJP last week.

The Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government had banned the sale of Singh””s book in the State last week.

The Gujarat Government blamed Jaswant””s book for denigrating the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a Gujarati and held in high esteem by people across Gujarat and rest of the India for his role during India””s freedom struggle against the British rulers.

Jaswant observes in his book that Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel together conceded Pakistan to Jinnah with help from the British.

Patel occupies a pride of place in BJP””s historiography with the party eulogising his tough action for the integration of rebellious Hyderabad and Junagarh with the Union, and contrasting it with the Nehru””s “blunder” in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN.

Last week, Singh sharpened his attack on BJP by saying that the party is like the violent white American group, Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Replying to a question on his expulsion from the party, Singh said: “Please don”t ask me. I am outside the magic circle of advisers or thinkers. Because, I am not from the RSS, is that why? So are we a political party? Is the BJP becoming some kind of an Indian version of Ku Klux Klan?”

Commonly known as The Klan, the KKK was the name of several hate groups in the US, whose aim was to protect and further the rights of white Americans by intimidation.

On being asked what he meant by reference to KKK, he shot back: “You know what the Klan means. You don”t ask me about this.”

On BJP senior leader’s position in the party, he said: “Does he (Advani) run a coterie or does the coterie run him.”

Singh said he did not agree with BJP leader Arun Shourie”s suggestion that RSS should take over the party, saying it will not work.

“I would like the BJP to reflect on what has happened and try to be a party of the 21st century. They (RSS) are exclusivist. Besides, they are an organisation committed to social work,” he said.

Asked if his expulsion was a message to other dissidents in the party, he shot back: “Am I a dissident. I am sorry. Your question suggests I am some kind of a dissident. I feel I am one of the original-founding members of the party.”

He ruled out joining the Samajwadi Party, which has invited him to join it.

“I am happy to be an independent. I will serve the cause of GJM and the Gorkha land. That is my karma bhoomi and my janam bhoomi is the desert. I shall serve them,” he said.

He also ruled out stepping down as Chairman of the prestigious Parliamentary Accounts Committee following his expulsion from the BJP. (ANI)

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‘I have not read Jaswant Singh’s book,’ says Bhagwat

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat said on Friday that he was yet to read expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s latest book – Jinnah -India, Partition, Independence.

Bhagwat’s comment came hours after Singh filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat Government’s decision to ban his book.

Deploring the ban of the book, Singh has already said that books are a medium of expression in the country, and professed the right to freedom of speech and expression.

He claimed that a ban on books actually means a ban on thinking.

“I am greatly saddened by it because the other example takes you to Salman Rusdie and Satanic Verses. The day we start banning books in India, we are banning thinking,” Jaswant had said while returning back from Shimla after his expulsion from the BJP last week.

The Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government had banned the sale of Singh”"”s book in the State last week.

The Gujarat Government blamed Jaswant”"”s book for denigrating the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a Gujarati and held in high esteem by people across Gujarat and rest of the India for his role during India”"”s freedom struggle against the British rulers.

Jaswant observes in his book that Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel together conceded Pakistan to Jinnah with help from the British.

Patel occupies a pride of place in BJP”"”s historiography with the party eulogising his tough action for the integration of rebellious Hyderabad and Junagarh with the Union, and contrasting it with the Nehru”"”s “blunder” in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN. (ANI)

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Jaswant files petition in Supreme Court on Gujarat Govt’s ban of his book

August 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat Government’s decision to ban his latest book – Jinnah -India, Partition, Independence.

Deploring the ban of the book, Singh has already said that books are a medium of expression in the country, and professed the right to freedom of speech and expression.

He claimed that a ban on books actually means a ban on thinking.

“I am greatly saddened by it because the other example takes you to Salman Rusdie and Satanic Verses. The day we start banning books in India, we are banning thinking,” Jaswant had said while returning back from Shimla after his expulsion from the BJP last week.

The Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government had banned the sale of Singh”s book in the State last week.

The Gujarat Government blamed Jaswant”s book for denigrating the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a Gujarati and held in high esteem by people across Gujarat and rest of the India for his role during India”s freedom struggle against the British rulers.

Jaswant observes in his book that Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel together conceded Pakistan to Jinnah with help from the British.

Patel occupies a pride of place in BJP”s historiography with the party eulogising his tough action for the integration of rebellious Hyderabad and Junagarh with the Union, and contrasting it with the Nehru”s “blunder” in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN. (ANI)

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Kashmir ‘cornerstone’ of Pak foreign policy :Gilani

August 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.21 (ANI): Terming the Kashmir issue as a ‘cornerstone’ of country’s foreign policy, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said his government is ‘vigorously’ pursuing the issue.

Speaking in the Lower House of parliament, Gilani said the government fully supported the cause of the Kashmiri people.

Responding to a point of order raised by Kashmir Committee Chairman Fazlur Rehman, Gilani said he would direct government officials and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to be available for briefings of the parliamentary special committee on Kashmir.

Rehman urged the government to give a parliamentary status to the Kashmir committee, the Daily Times reports.

Islamabad has been pushing for resolving the Kashmir issue in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said that neither his country nor the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would compromise with India on the Kashmir issue.

Kaira, who is also Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, expressed these views in a meeting with Sardar Ali Shahnawaz Khan, advisor to chairman of Christian Democratic Party in Oslo, Norway.

Kaira said that Pakistan is ready for dialogue with India for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue, but added that Islamabad would only accept a solution that was acceptable to all Kashmiris.

Pakistan, he said, has not shied away from taking up the Kashmir issue at the diplomatic level.

The Kashmir dispute has been a part of UN deliberations since 1948. Pakistan has demanded that the dispute be resolved as per the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949. India, however, maintains that these resolutions are being wrongly interpreted by Islamabad. (ANI)

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