Azad Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (AJKLF) leader Yaseen Malik has said that freezing the Kashmir issue was not acceptable to the Kashmiris nor could such a policy help in a peaceful solution to the issue. He was addressing a joint press conference with the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer, Syed Munawwar Hasan, at Mansoora, after a detailed meeting with him on Sunday.
Syed Munawar Hasan told media persons on the occasion that the Kashmir cause was not of the Kashmiris' alone. They were fighting Pakistan's war but the Pakistan government, political parties and even the media were ignoring the Kashmir issue while the Kashmir Committee had also failed to highlight the issue at international level.
JI Azad Kashmir chief, Abdur Rashid Turabi, and other JI leaders were also present on the occasion Yasin Malik said that ever since dialogue had started between Pakistan and India.
There was no mention of the Kashmir issue and the Kashmiris had the impression that the issue was being frozen. However, he said, the governments of Pakistan and India should not hope for a lasting peace in the region without the solution of the Kashmir issue. He said initially, India had desired a peaceful atmosphere for beginning talks. Accordingly, the Kashmiris gave up their armed struggle and started a peaceful struggle.
He said at present, there was an ideal atmosphere for dialogue and both the governments should try to find out a peaceful solution to the issue.
Yaseen Malik, however, said that since the Kashmiris gave up armed struggle and began a peaceful movement, India had begun their genocide in a bid to crush their movement. He warned that if Indian and Pakistan were unable to find a peaceful solution, the Kashmiris would be forced to begin armed struggle again. He said that in the past Pakistani governments had been mentioning of the Kashmir issue one way or the other but the present rulers in Islamabad were not even talking of the Kashmir issue. The Kashmir Committee should also discharge its duty.
The Kashmiris leader said that after the 9/11, the world community had decided to solve the international issue through peaceful means. The Kashmiris also took up this path by opting the peaceful process. The international community should also discharge its responsibility and allow the Kashmiris their rights.
Yaseen Malik said that personally, he was in favour of a sovereign Kashmir. However, he said, the Kashmiris should be allowed to decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or India or have a sovereign state.
Syed Munawar Hasan said that the Kashmiris were trying to protect Pakistan's lifeline. He appealed to the political parties, the media, the Kashmir Committee and the government to focus on the Kashmir issue once again so that the Kashmiris got courage and their movement gained strength again. He said, the policy change on Kashmir by the Pervez Musharraf government had done great harm to the Kashmir cause while the present elected rulers were also toeing Musharraf's line. He said that Kashmir Committee was not independent and was only toeing the official line.