MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD  -  Caretaker Prime Min­ister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Friday calling the recent verdict of the Indian Supreme Court as a tool to consolidate Indian illegal occupa­tion, said such unilater­al and illegal decisions would further stimulate the Kashmir freedom movement. 

He said despite world powers’ silence over the issue, India could not succeed in its nefarious designs of dimin­ishing the freedom movement and it was trying to resolve the Kashmir issue according to its own agenda. “The movement is not diminishing and this is the biggest problem for India and it was again and again trying to bury it through various tactics,” the prime minister said while ad­dressing a press conference here. 

He said more than 90,000 Kashmiris had been killed, over 1500 faced forced disappear­ances and pellet gun injuries, and thousands of the women suffered rape, while the human rights abuses were also docu­mented in two of the UN reports. “Such painful memories can­not be forgotten for centuries,” he remarked. To a question, the prime minister expressing the government of Pakistan’s re­solve to support the Kashmiris in their just cause of freedom, said that this movement would continue with new strength, and remain consistent.

The prime minister said during his two-day visit, he held useful and constructive inter­actions with the Hurriyat lead­ership, members and cabinet of AJK legislative assembly, stu­dents, and journalists to inject new vigour and energy into the Kashmir freedom movement. 

During the meetings, input from various stakeholders in­cluding the Kashmiri leader­ship would be incorporated to reinvigorate the freedom move­ment, he said. To another ques­tion, PM Kakar maintained that the unilateral and illegal deci­sions either by the Indian courts or assemblies would never be accepted and Pakistan rejected such decisions. 

He said Kashmir’s final settle­ment must be ensured through a plebiscite in line with the UN resolutions. “Without it no oth­er way is acceptable,” he added. 

Responding to a query, the prime minister highlighted, “We are advocating for our people, we consider the Kashmiris as future residents of Pakistan”. 

On various ongoing and new development projects in AJK, the prime minister said a cab­inet committee of the AJK gov­ernment had been formed to look into these and his govern­ment would provide every pos­sible support in this regard.

Also, Caretaker Prime Minis­ter Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Fri­day, reiterating Pakistan’s prin­cipled position and support on the Kashmir issue, categorical­ly said that no one could dare cast an evil eye on Pakistan and that its desire for peace should not be misconstrued as weak­ness or hesitation to face any aggression. “Pakistan is not a war-mongering nation. But if anyone thinks that we are weak, shying away or hesitating, they should remove this misunder­standing. Muzaffarabad is not Gaza and New Delhi is not Tel Aviv...No one can dare to kill 4,000 children here,” he said in an interaction with the students of different colleges and univer­sities of Azad Jammu and Kash­mir during his two-day visit.

Expressing his confidence in Pakistan’s defence capabili­ties in the context of the Indi­an aggression, he said though Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had same attitudes, but they had different implementing capability and re­sponse mechanisms. 

To a question, the prime min­ister strongly rejected the ru­mours of any change in Paki­stan’s policy to follow suit India to merge the AJK in it, he said, “No one can think of such a stu­pid act. Nobody can dare.”

He said that the rumours were spread by the enemies to create misunderstandings and that Pa­kistan had a principled jour­ney with the Kashmiris for de­cades, backed by the sacrifices of 90,000 people.

He said Pakistan had fought three wars with India on Kash­mir and was ready to face any kind of aggression. 

“Are we fighting the wars to make Kashmir (part of)KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)? This is out of question,” he comment­ed and reiterated Pakistan’s re­solve of not budging an inch from its principled position. 

To a suggestion about a corri­dor between the AJK and the In­dian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), he said India was not allowing the Kashmiris move freely even from their homes in Srinagar, what to talk of traveling to the AJK. It would be possible when the Kashmir question would go to its final settlement. “We should strive to take the issue to the final set­tlement,” he added. He said the only solution to the Kashmir dispute was to hold a plebiscite as per the United Nations Secu­rity Council’s resolutions. 

He said during the visit, he held detailed consultations with the AJK parliamentarians across different political parties and Hurriyat leadership, and mulled over how to project and exploit the matter in collaboration with the society and the diaspora.

Coming to the Gaza situation, the prime minister said Paki­stan would continue to raising the voice against Israel which was using brutal force against the Palestinians. He said Paki­stan had sent a field hospital and doubled its humanitarian assis­tance for the Palestinian people. He said the immediate focus should be to achieve ceasefire and establishment of a humani­tarian corridor. “Gaza is close to our hearts... Israel earned noth­ing but hatred. Israel earned no fame,” he remarked. 

About the repatriation of for­eigners, Prime Minister Kakar reiterated that only the illegal foreigners were being repatriat­ed as they had been posing se­curity challenge for the country.

About the brain drain, he re­iterated his earlier position of not discouraging it as the di­aspora would become an asset in the form of remittances and projecting Pakistan’s image. However, he called for improv­ing education quality and fill the gaps to enhance the num­ber of graduates to fulfill do­mestic and global supply needs.