MIRPUR (AJK)-The Azad Jammu & Kashmir cabinet Wednesday vehemently condemned the massive human rights abuses by the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir, and deplored continuous silence of the international community on the unresolved issue.
The cabinet appreciated the government of AJK for bringing AJK on the path to speedy progress and prosperity besides the good governance – the manifestation of the pre-election commitment to the people of AJK.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet met in the State’s capital with Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan in the chair. Senior minister Ch Tariq Farooq – besides other cabinet colleagues including Raja Nisar Ahmed,Dr.Najeeb Naqi, Sardar Mir Akber, Mushtaq Minhas, Sardar Farooq Sakandir, Barrister Iftikhar Gillani, Noreen Arif, Ch Muhammad Saeed, Nasir Dar,Chief Secretary of AJK and other high ranking officials attended the meeting.
An AJK government spokesman told the media Wednesday evening that the cabinet unanimously passed various resolutions. The cabinet strongly condemned the blasts that rocked Lahore and Sehwan Sharif said such cowardly acts cannot deter the resolve of the nation to stand against terrorism and the government is committed to root out the menace.
The cabinet said perpetrators of terror attacks at sacred places were the enemies of humanity and national development and they were destined to fail. The cabinet also extended condolences to the families of the victims of the deadliest terrorist attacks.
The cabinet congratulated the Pakistan Navy for its biannually-held multinational AMAN 2017 naval exercise. The exercise involved 37 countries with nine nations–Australia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Russia–participating with warships or aircraft.
The cabinet also congratulated the Pakistan military on successful flight test of a new medium range ballistic missile (MRBM), The test involved the successful launch of the surface-to-surface MRBM Ababeel, capable of carrying multiple warheads using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle technology (MIRV). The new missile purportedly has a maximum range of 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles).
The cabinet strongly condemned unprovoked Indian firing on the Line of Control (LoC) and condoled with the families of the martyrs. The cabinet said that Indian recent violation across LoC was an attempt to divert world attention from its atrocities being committed on innocent Kashmiri people by the Indian forces. The cabinet said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vigorously pleaded the case of occupied Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly and will continue efforts for resolving Kashmir issue.
The cabinet rejected the ridiculous Indian claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India as it itself took the issue to the United Nations as a dispute between the two sovereign states.
The cabinet condemned the human rights violations perpetrated by India forces in Held Kashmir resulting in martyrdom of thousands of Kashmiris. It described the use of pellet guns to deliberately blind unarmed Kashmiris a clear violation of the international conventions.
It saluted the valiant Kashmiris for continuing their struggle for their right to self-determination as promised by the United Nations. The cabinet stated that the draconian laws and recurring curfew in Occupied Kashmir has made the lives of Kashmiris miserable and described it as against the international human rights conventions.
The cabinet deplored continuous silence of the international community on the ongoing violations perpetrated by the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir. The cabinet called upon the United Nations Security Council to take concrete steps for implementation of its resolutions for granting right to self-determination to the Kashmiris.
It called upon the international community to take note of the gravity of the situation and urge India to respect human rights and right to self-determination. The cabinet expressed full confidence in the leadership of the prime minister Raja Farooq Haider and highly appreciated his efforts for establishing good governance, merit and rule of law in AJK.
The cabinet also appreciated the prime minister for his successful visit to United Kingdom in which he managed to sign memorandum of understanding with British Council for training of 6000 English teachers from AJK.
Meanwhile, the cabinet was briefed by Inspector General Police on law and order situation in AJK and cabinet expressed its satisfaction over the current situation of law and security. The cabinet decided to setup new police stations, increase police force, provision of new vehicles and equipments to police department to it could cope with the challenge of terrorism.
The cabinet called upon the traffic police to improve its performance rather putting cash plenty on citizens. For establishment of good governance and effective accountability of corrupt elements in the state it was decided to introduce comprehensive amendments in “Etsaab Act” and a committee headed by minister for law was formed.
The cabinet decided to restore the service structure and a committee was constituted to take decision on the future of ad hoc employees. The cabinet put ban on the employment of children under 13 years old but children between 15 to 17 years old were allowed to employ at some places by according approval of amendments in “Azad Jammu & Kashmir Restriction on Employment of Children Act.2016”.