Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday arrived in Karachi to meet leaders of various political parties during his week-long visit.
“We are in favor of resumption of dialogue process between India and Pakistan but the struggle of Kashmiri people should not go into the backdrop,” the Kashmiri leader spoke to reporters at Karachi airport and after visiting the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
He hailed Pakistan’s role for resolution of Kashmir issue and urged political leadership of the country to take onboard Kashmiri leaders in talks with India, saying that “Pakistani dialogues with Indian are incomplete without inclusion of Kashmiris.”
“Pakistan should ensure that it will take us onboard at any forum of dialogues meant for the rights of Kashmiri people…Mass movements in Kashmir could not be oppressed now. India should realize that aspirations of Kashmiri people are could not be subjugated by tanks and guns.”
Meanwhile, leading a seven-member Hurriyat delegation, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq reached Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) headquarters, Nine Zero, and addressed a small gathering besides meeting the party leadership.
MQM’s Nasreen Jaleel, Haider Abbas Rizvi and others met Kashmiri leaders, pledging to support the Kashmir cause and right of self determination of people of the valley.
Mirwaiz arrived in Islamabad on Saturday night to meet top Pakistani leadership reportedly to bring the Kashmir resolution at the centre of Indo-Pak co-operation in the region and to ascertain as to how Pakistan politicians think about bringing Kashmiri leadership in its otherwise bilateral engagement with New Delhi.