Various political and religious circles in Multan have condemned the recent briefing of Foreign Affair spokesperson and said no Pakistani ruler had right to say that Kashmir was not an integral part of Pakistan as long as the Kashmiris did not decide their fate.
In their separate statements, ARD Central Vice President Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmed Khan, PPP central Vice Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pakistan Seraiki Party Chief Barrister Taj Muhammad Langah and former Governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar accused the present regime of contriving to divide the region.
They said that General Pervez Musharraf had disclaimed the slogan "Kashmir banega Pakistan" by saying "Pakistan never claimed Kashmir as being an integral part of Pakistan."
They termed the statement as a conspiracy against the Two-Nation Theory and said the gross interference in the recent general elections of Azad Kashmir had been perpetuated and toady the government had been installed in the valley to carry this nefarious scheme forward.
The slammed President Musharraf's U-turn over the Kashmir issue and said Pakistan did not stand as a strong advocate of the cause anymore, despite the fact that Kashmiri masses had rendered a massive sacrifice of over 600,000 martyrs for the cause since 1947.
The leaders said that the statement had pained the ideals of Jinnah and Allama Iqbal and no democratic government could ever dare to pass such a statement. They demanded immediate permission for the return of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto and convening of an All Parties Conference on Kashmir.
They said that such statements tantamount to retracting the statement of the Quaid-i-Azam, who had described "Kashmir as the jugular vein of Pakistan". They vowed to resist any move to divide Kashmir on the basis of "here and there", and expressed concerns over the irresponsible statement of the Foreign Office.