MUZAFFARABAD:
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has failed to shoulder the “higher burden of responsibilities” regarding the Kashmir dispute and the ongoing freedom movement in the valley.
These views were expressed by Dr Syed Nazir Gilani, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights, in a special conversation with this correspondent here on Sunday.
He noted that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were the primary party in the plebiscite, with Pakistan as the second party. He added that the 1974 Act, essentially amounted to the annexation of AJK to Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the AJK government has “miserably failed” to extend this annexation to the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), he added.
Dr Gilani argued that if the AJK government had succeeded in uniting people from all segments in IIOJK, particularly Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, around the demand for the right to self-determination, it would have facilitated the annexation of the entire Jammu and Kashmir region to Pakistan through a vote.
This, in turn, would have expanded Pakistan’s influence among Kashmiris and been reflected in the plebiscite with a vote in Pakistan’s favour.
However, he maintained that the AJK government not only failed to fulfil its responsibilities regarding the freedom of IIOJK, but also fell short in expanding the scope of the Kashmiris’ affiliation with Pakistan.
