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Urdu Section

13 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

How Azad is Pak-Occupied Kashmir: some facts

Pakistan’s policy toward the occupied Kashmir or the so-called Azad Kashmir seems different from this fact. Practically the entire region is under total control of the Pakistani government, Pakistani army and its secret intelligence agency ISI. The people of this area do not have any right to self expression, nor do they have any right to form their political party. There is no press freedom or the freedom to carry out social or cultural activities. Worse, the outside world does not know much about the state of affair in this region. The first time the international community was allowed to visit the area was when the devastating earthquake ravaged this land. The world then learnt about the extent of social and economic backwardness of this region. The region which is called Azad Kashmir by Pakistan is in fact its colony and the government of Pakistan has got a separate ministry called the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs’ for the governance of Kashmir. Moreover, Pakistan has a separate constitution called the Interim constitution 1974 for Kashmir (drafted by two federal ministries – Ministry of Law and Ministry of Kashmir Affairs) according to which the government of Pakistan can remove any elected government in ‘Azad Kashmir’.

Moreover two bodies -- the government of Azad Kashmir in Muzaffarabad and the Azad Kashmir Council in Islamabad -- have been formed under the constitution that have been given the responsibility of the governance and administration in the region. The Azad Kashmir Council is presided by the Prime Minister of Pakistan who has a total control over the ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ Legislative Assembly which can not reject any decision of the Council. The Council comprises the Prime Minister of Pakistan, six other federal ministers, the Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ and six members of ‘Azad Kashmir’. The interim constitution prepared for the so-called ‘Azad Kashmir’ clearly states that no individual or group in this state is permitted to take part in any activity or say anything that goes against the principle of the accession of this region to Pakistan.

Apart from that, no citizen of ‘Azad Kashmir’ will be allowed to fight an election or get a government job until he signs a declaration accepting the state’s accession to Pakistan. In view of all this, it is clear that Pakistan has enslaved the people of this region in the name of freedom. They do not have their own identity, or citizenship or the freedom to put a demand for their social and economic development before the Pakistani government. The tragedy is that even the person who is called the Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ does not have the right to say anything in favour of the people of his state or criticise the wrong policies of Pakistan. That is the reason when speaking to a Pakistani TV channel, the former Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ Farooque Haider had advocated the rights of the Kashmiris on the natural resources of the region, the next day two ISI officials came to his house and forced him to sign his resignation. This way, four Prime Ministers of ‘Azad Kashmir’ came and left in less than four year’s time. -- Dr Khwaja Ekram (Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Desk)

How Azad is Pak-Occupied Kashmir: some facts

By Dr Khwaja Ekram (Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Desk) The Kashmir region in the South Asia has been a bone of contention between Pakistan and India for the last six decades and the two countries have even fought two wars over it. On the whole the region is divided into two parts. One part is controlled by India while the other is occupied by Pakistan. Going back to history we find that when the Indian subcontinent was gaining independence from the British occupation, Pakistan came into existence based on the Two Nation Theory. Therefore, the people of the subcontinent were though delighted over freedom from the British rule, they were also sad because of the division of the country, a fact the new generation too has not been able to put behind. At the time of the partition, the state of Jammu & Kashmir was neither merged with India nor Pakistan but the aggressive policy of Pakistan has inflicted such a deep wound on the people of the state that could not be cured till date. The history shows that shortly after the establishment of Pakistan, the government there started sending groups of tribals who are known as Taliban today into Kashmir to capture it at a time when there was neither any army of India in J & K nor the Maharaja of Kashmir had given any indication of its merger with India. A high army official of Pakistan, Maj General Akbar in his book “Raiders of Kashmir” has stated how he was given instructions to chalk out a plan to capture Kashmir and how he provided the tribals with weapons. But due to the involvement of the tribals in looting, rampant killings and rapes, Pakistan’s plan could not succeed and finally Kashmir’s Maharaja also changed his mind towards Pakistan which resulted in Kashmir’s accession to India. India’s last Vice-Roy Mount Batten has also stated that he had visited Kashmir and tried to persuade Raja Ajay Singh to agree to Kashmir’s accession to India but he had not responded to the proposal. But after the tribal attack, his mind changed suddenly. However, we know how the Indian army reached Kashmir and rid the Kashmiris from the oppression of the tribals. But unfortunately, Kashmir was divided into two parts. Pakistan called the part of Kashmir occupied by it ‘Azad Kashmir’ while India calls it ‘Pak-occupied-Kashmir’. During the 1965 war, India could have taken control of that part of Kashmir too if it wanted, but it returned it to Pakistan honouring international obligations. If we look at the facts, we will find that according to the UN’s resolution on Kashmir of 1948, Kashmir is neither an independent state nor a province of Pakistan but a local authority which has been given the responsibility of the area according to ceasefire agreement of 1949. However, Pakistan’s policy toward the occupied Kashmir or the so-called Azad Kashmir seems different from this fact. Practically the entire region is under total control of the Pakistani government, Pakistani army and its secret intelligence agency ISI. The people of this area do not have any right to self expression, nor do they have any right to form their political party. There is no press freedom or the freedom to carry out social or cultural activities. Worse, the outside world does not know much about the state of affair in this region. The first time the international community was allowed to visit the area was when the devastating earthquake ravaged this land. The world then learnt about the extent of social and economic backwardness of this region. The region which is called Azad Kashmir by Pakistan is in fact its colony and the government of Pakistan has got a separate ministry called the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs’ for the governance of Kashmir. Moreover, Pakistan has a separate constitution called the Interim constitution 1974 for Kashmir (drafted by two federal ministries – Ministry of Law and Ministry of Kashmir Affairs) according to which the government of Pakistan can remove any elected government in ‘Azad Kashmir’. Moreover two bodies -- the government of Azad Kashmir in Muzaffarabad and the Azad Kashmir Council in Islamabad -- have been formed under the constitution that have been given the responsibility of the governance and administration in the region. The Azad Kashmir Council is presided by the Prime Minister of Pakistan who has a total control over the ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ Legislative Assembly which can not reject any decision of the Council. The Council comprises the Prime Minister of Pakistan, six other federal ministers, the Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ and six members of ‘Azad Kashmir’. The interim constitution prepared for the so-called ‘Azad Kashmir’ clearly states that no individual or group in this state is permitted to take part in any activity or say anything that goes against the principle of the accession of this region to Pakistan. Apart from that, no citizen of ‘Azad Kashmir’ will be allowed to fight an election or get a government job until he signs a declaration accepting the state’s accession to Pakistan. In view of all this, it is clear that Pakistan has enslaved the people of this region in the name of freedom. They do not have their own identity, or citizenship or the freedom to put a demand for their social and economic development before the Pakistani government. The tragedy is that even the person who is called the Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ does not have the right to say anything in favour of the people of his state or criticise the wrong policies of Pakistan. That is the reason when speaking to a Pakistani TV channel, the former Prime Minister of ‘Azad Kashmir’ Farooque Haider had advocated the rights of the Kashmiris on the natural resources of the region, the next day two ISI officials came to his house and forced him to sign his resignation. This way, four Prime Ministers of ‘Azad Kashmir’ came and left in less than four year’s time. On the contrary, on this side of this border, the situation is quite different in Indian Jammu & Kashmir. The whole world is witness to the fact that the state runs on democratic process and a lot of development work is going on. But Pakistan does not like this and has been pursuing the policy of promoting ‘jihad in Kashmir’. It is therefore, evident from the facts that Pakistani has never had any sympathies for the Kashmiris. It only wants all enslave all the Kashmiris with the help of force and false propaganda. But it is also true that such policies do not work for long. The future will make Pakistan realise its follies. Source: Hamara Samaj, New Delhi URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=3929