Staff Report
MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday stressed forging unity and solidarity by shunning all political differences, which would infuse vigour and strength into the Kashmir cause.
While addressing a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on the occasion of ”Kashmir Solidarity Day”, PM Shehbaz said the great Founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had termed Kashmir as a jugular vein of Pakistan.”
PM Shehbaz said that divisions were apparent in the society, which was regrettable; however, in Muzaffarabad, AJK, and Pakistan, the entire political leadership and the legislative assembly members were in unison, which showed national unity, solidarity, and harmony that certainly perturbed India.
“When a society moves with unity, it achieves its goals, giving it further power and strength,” PM Shehbaz observed.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the whole 220 million Pakistani nation and the Kashmiri people, on this day of solidarity, gave a clear message of national unity.
He said for the last 75 year, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the blood of innocent Kashmiris was spilled mercilessly.
PM Shehbaz referred to one of the brutal incidents in IIOJK in which a little child was seen sitting on the chest of his dead grandfather with melancholic looks.
He said the whole world witnessed the heart-wrenching spectacle, adding that thousands of Kashmiri Muslims had been subjected to brutalities and cruelties unleashed by Indian occupation forces while thousands were martyred.
Pakistan’s matchless support for Kashmir cause
He recalled that in 2019, Prime Minister Modi deprived the occupied Kashmir of its special status, turning the occupied valley into an open jail.
The prime minister said that the brutal and inhuman treatment meted out to Kashmiri people would not last long, as the mothers, sons, and children had given huge sacrifices with valour that would see the light of day.
The prime minister referred to events in Sudan, North Ireland, and East Timor that had been divided on a religious and political basis. In Bosnia, the world’sworld’s conscience woke up when thousands were killed. Mass graves were unearthed, which spoke volumes of cruelties.
On the one hand, these scenes moved the global community, while on the other hand, efforts were being made to equate the occupied forces with the victims in IIOJK, which the prime minister regretted.
Despite all this, PM Shehbaz said that the Pakistani nation and all the political governments always raised voice for the just cause of Kashmir because it as Kashmir was their jugular vein.
He said in 1954, Nehru had committed in Lok Sabha to give Kashmiris their right to self-determination; however, later, it proved to be a falsehood.
PM Shehbaz assured the Kashmiri people that Pakistan would always stand with them in solidarity in their struggle for liberation from the illegal Indian occupation.
The prime minister said that Kashmiris were right in raising the question of why the issue lingered for the last 75 years. Kashmir and Palestine disputes could not be resolved while brutalities and atrocities were being carried out.
PM Shehbaz said Kashmiri people would soon get freedom, but along with slogans, speeches, and words, they would have to prove with practical and logical steps.
Commitment to Kashmir cause
The prime minister said Germany and Japan had been destroyed during the World War, resulting in huge destruction while their major cities were destroyed, but after 60 years, once again, they prevailed over the world and Europe due to their hard work.
He opined that they turned their destruction into a success based on hard work and commitment.
PM Shehbaz also stressed that the Muslim world had been gifted with huge resources, and they could resolve issues confronting them with unity.
The prime minister said as prime minister of allied parties and representative of 220 million Pakistani people, he fully assured Kashmiri brethren that they would continue their support for their due right of self-determination.
He said former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had effectively raised the Kashmir issue.
In 1998, in response to the Indian nuclear tests, Nawaz Sharif conducted five tests that made Pakistan a nuclear power.
He added that the former prime minister also rejected a $5 billion offer made by former US president Bill Clinton for not conducting the nuclear test.
