AJK ex-PM calls for fresh polls, APC on Kashmir

LAHORE As the game of musical chairs is going on in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir, its former Prime Minister Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry has called for fresh free and fair polls to bring in a stable government, and has said international observers will be invited for monitoring elections. He also called upon the government to convene All Parties Conference for discussing the indigenous movement for independence in the Indian-Kashmir and formulating a unison policy for bringing India under pressure for actualising the UN resolution and setting the Kashmiris free from the cruel clutched of the Indian subjugation. While addressing a press conference here at the Lahore Press Conference on Monday, Sultan Mehmood, also President Peoples Muslim League, mentioned that he had given details about the rigging of elections in the AJK, but nothing was done, and since then four governments had been repeatedly changed. Because of General (r) Pervez Musharrafs 4-point agenda of dividing Kashmir, uncertainty was created. One cannot have good fruit from a poisoned tree, averred dissatisfied premier with the Pakistani govt, while suggesting that impartial polls could only create a stable govt in the AJK. He was also critical of the Kashmir Committees performance. Talking about responsibilities of the Pakistan govt with regard to the freedom movement in the IHK and its fallouts, he asked the govt to convene APC for discussing the issue for forming a consensus policy. We are in the knowledge of problems being faced by the govt, but national responsibility always weighs heavier. Now the Pakistani govt should have a clear stance, and tell the world that it is important to secure Eastern border prior to the Western, and support for the IHK, he maintained. He criticised Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for showing mild reaction to the Indian atrocities in the IHK. US President Barack Obama did not mention Kashmir in his speech either, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moons statement 'India and Pakistan should halt aggression in respective parts of Kashmir is divorced from reality, observed. He was of the view that the indigenous movement of the Kashmiris in the IHK would not fall short of achieving its goal despite the Indian govts enhanced military presence. The Hurriyat leaders have rejected all offers and only they want is independence. Manmohan Singhs high-level delegation has returned unsuccessful as well, he mentioned, while adding that Kashmiris across the globe were holding protest to press the world for materialising their demands since western leaders had not questioned India about committing gross human rights violations.

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