Entire nation to fight war for Kashmir’s freedom: Masood

Indian attack of August 5 was an attack not only on held Kashmir but on Azad Kashmir and Pakistan

MIRPUR (APP) – Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan on Tuesday said the the whole nation would fight the war for the freedom of Kashmir full determination, which had become inevitable.

“Before any such war, we will have to create unity in our rank and file, and side by side with strengthening Pakistan in economic and defense terms, we will have to fully understand the strategy and planning of the enemy to win the war,” he said while addressing a conference organized by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) in Muzaffarabad.

The conference was also addressed by Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Syed Fakhar Imam, former AJK prime minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, PICSS Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Saad Khattak, All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Abdullah Gilani, head of Kashmir Institute of International Relations Altaf Andrabi and Dr Mujahid Gilani.

The AJK president said the Indian attack of August 5 was an attack not only on held Kashmir but on Azad Kashmir and Pakistan as well because since then India had constantly been threatening to attack and capture Azad Kashmir and to impose war on Pakistan.

He rejected the impression that nothing had been done in Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and on the international level on the Kashmir issue after August 5. It was a fact that after August 5, voice was loudly raised in favour of the right to self-determination of Kashmiri people and against human rights violations in occupied Kashmir at the United States Congress and its human rights committees, and parliaments of the United Kingdom, Europe and France, and by the governments of Malaysia, China, Iran and Turkey.

While describing Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as Pakistan’s defence rampart, he asserted that the people of the regions had never let the enemy cross that defence line.

“Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are important for Pakistan not only in defense terms but due to their natural resources and now CPEC, these have become Pakistan’s economic lifeline,” he said and added that not only the armed forces of Pakistan were defending the area but thousands of officers and hundreds of thousands of troops belonging to the AJK were serving the Pakistan Army and defending every inch of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Fakhr Imam said the future of both Pakistan and Jammu & Kashmir was interlinked, and the government, people and the armed forces of Pakistan had full realization of the plight of the people of occupied Kashmir.

He regretted that the United Nations, which was founded with the basic objective of saving weak nations from the repression of powerful countries, had failed in the Kashmir case to stop the powerful from perpetrating repression and coming to the rescue of the oppressed Kashmiri people.

He maintained that the incumbent government of Pakistan was fully determined to ensure freedom of Kashmiri people and protection of their rights, and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech in the UN General Assembly was its proof.

Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan said “Kashmir to become part of Pakistan” was not mere a slogan but an ideology and the goal as it guaranteed safe future of the region. He said the hearts of Kashmiri people beat with those of their Pakistani brethren and Indian repressive tricks could not deter the Kashmiri people from their goal.

Maj Gen (retd) Saad Khattak said no power on the earth could break the bonds between Pakistani and the Kashmiri people. Those who viewed that the Kashmir issue had ended after August 5, had a misconception. “The martyrdom of Pakistan Army personnel on the front of Kashmir is an irrefutable proof of the love and commitment of the Kashmir people with Pakistan,” he added.