Kashmir | Pakistan

The military and civilian leadership on Wednesday said just and lasting peace in South Asia was closely linked to the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute as the country marked Youm-i-Istehsal (Exploitation Day) to mark the anniversary of India revoking the occupied region’s special autonomy in 2019. President Asif Ali Zardari said that Youm-i-Istehsal was being observed to “reaffirm our unwavering solidarity” with the people of occupied Kashmir. “We pay tribute to their courage, resilience and commitment to their just struggle for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination,” he said. The president said that seven years have passed since India’s “illegal and unilateral actions” of August 5, 2019, when it revoked the region’s special autonomy. “These actions cannot change the legal status of the dispute, nor can they weaken the resolve of the Kashmiri people,” he said. “For seven years, millions of Kashmiris have continued to live under severe restrictions that have affected every a...

President, PM reaffirm unwavering support for Kashmir cause

ISLAMABAD - In a scathing critique of the Indian government, former Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday held the Modi regime directly responsible for the ongoing terrorism and security failures in the region following the killing of innocent labourers in Kulgam.

LAHORE: Activists of the Haqooq-i-Khalq Party were arrested on Friday while holding a peaceful demonstration outside the press club to show solidarity with the Joint Action Committee of AJK. However, a party spokesperson says that all the detainees have been released on the condition that there will be no demonstration on Saturday (today). Activist Farooq Tariq was also among those arrested during the peaceful solidarity protest with the people of Kashmir. He was dragged, harassed and forcibly taken away in a police van. Along with him, Punjab Police arrested dozens of other protesters, including Muzammil Kakar and Hussain Jameel Faridi. The HKP expressed its deep concerns on the arrests as there was no information about the whereabouts of Farooq Tariq or other detainees. The party demanded their immediate release and called on the authorities to disclose their whereabouts without delay. The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) also strongly condemned the arbitrary arrest of its Federal Committee member, F...

ISLAMABAD - Jmaiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman yesterday strongly condemned the alleged firing and use of force against protesters in Kashmir, describing it as an unacceptable act of violence against unarmed civilians and calling on the authorities to immediately halt what he termed state repression.

FO slams Rajnath's remarks on Kashmir

The Foreign Office (FO) has condemned Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s “highly provocative and irresponsible comments” regarding the Kashmir dispute, saying that the neighbouring country must not underestimate Pakistan’s resolve to “thwart any Indian adventurism”. On Sunday, Singh had stated that there would be “no talks with Pakistan”. According to the Times of India, he went on to say that if any took place, they would only be on Azad Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that it was “illegally occupied by Pakistan”. He also said that any “misadventure” would invite a response “beyond their imagination”, the publication said. The FO responded to the claims in a statement issued early on Monday, saying Pakistan condemned in the “strongest possible terms the highly provocative and irresponsible comments” by the Indian minister. “His statement not only distorts facts regarding the UN and internationally recognised Jammu and Kashmir dispute that remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council but also shows India...

• Flood Forecasting Division warns flows may rise further by July 25 amid new monsoon spell • Urban flooding likely in parts of Punjab, KP and Balochistan LAHORE: The Chenab River continued to remain in a high-flood state on Thursday as torrential rains lashed held Kashmir and several parts of Punjab. “The water level in the Chenab River at Marala and Khanki has subsided to medium flood. However, the river is flowing in high flood at Qadirabad and Chiniot Bridge. It is expected to subside by the time it reaches Trimmu Headworks after passing Chiniot Bridge,” a senior irrigation department official told Dawn. “This is according to a fresh report issued on Thursday evening,” he added. However, he warned of a possible rise in the river’s water level again at Marala if rains continued in held Kashmir. “Rains are still continuing in parts of held Kashmir. We will receive Thurs­day’s report from held Kashmir on Friday (today). Let’s see what happens,” he added. According to the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) of t...

Dar calls Kashmir dispute 'heart of regional instability'

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday drew attention to key challenges threatening peaceful coexistence and stability across the world, listing the Kashmir dispute and India’s threats to Pakistan’s water share among them. He made the remarks at the 33rd ministerial meeting of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) held in Manila, the Philippines. Foreign ministers and delegates from 27 member states of ARF gathered for the summit, which comes amid a flare-up in the war between the United States and Iran. The conflict is a key concern for the 11-nation Asean, which has a combined gross domestic product of about $3.8 trillion heavily reliant on Middle East oil. Addressing the meeting, DPM Dar highlighted eight key challenges that he said “continue to threaten peaceful coexistence, stability and our livelihoods across the region and the world”. “Any delay in addressing these challenges will only undermine our collective efforts to achieve peace, stability and prosperity across our regions and ...

Hundreds of people led by the chief minister of India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) shouted slogans and staged a protest in the capital Delhi on Monday, demanding statehood for the region, seven years after it revoked the disputed region’s autonomy by abrogating Article 370. Protesters were stopped by police from staging their demonstration, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X, which had videos and pictures of people holding posters and shouting slogans. “This is only the beginning of our struggle for statehood, our rights, our dignity and everything that was taken away from us,” Abdullah said in the post. In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the partial autonomy of the occupied Kashmir state, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally controlled territories: held Kashmir with Jammu, and Ladakh. The government has since said statehood to the Himalayan region will be restored at the “appropriate time” but has not given a deadline. Abdullah and his party, the Jammu and Kashmir...

• FFD warns of low- to medium-level flooding in Chenab and Ravi over next 24 hours • Woman, two children killed after landslide buries their house in AJK’s Kotli • At least 11 killed by flash floods in occupied J&K LAHORE/MUZAFFARABAD: The River Chenab swelled to nearly 180,000 cusecs after torrential rains triggered flash floods in India-occupied Kashmir, killing at least 11 people, with the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) of the Pakistan Meteorological Depart­ment forecasting low to medium flooding in the river at Marala and the River Ravi at Jassar over the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, a woman and her two children were killed in the early hours of Sunday after a massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall buried their house in a village in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The influx pushed the River Chenab into the medium flood category, according to a senior official of the Punjab Irrigation Department. He said India had not provided Pakistan with prior information on upstream river flows. ...

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reaffirmed Pakistan's continued support for the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination on Accession to Pakistan Day, while calling for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to be resolved in accordance with United Nations.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday that the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) since last month was “very concerning”, and the longer it persisted, the more harm would be caused to the Kashmir cause and Pakistan’s reputation. Bilawal expressed these views while addressing his party’s office bearers and ticket holders in AJK, where he arrived on Tuesday for an unscheduled visit ahead of July 27 elections in the region. AJK has been seized by protests and deadly clashes between law enforcers and protesters from the recently proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) ahead of the polls. The matter at the centre of the tensions is JAAC’s demand for the abolition of 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. Addressing his party’s workers against this backdrop, Bilawal said, “If someone uses inappropriate language against Kashmiris, we will be heartbroken.” He added...

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday sought representation in the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, noting that the inclusion of all political parties in the panel was essential to effectively highlight the issue. The Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir is a parliamentary body dedicated to raising the Kashmir issue on national and international forums. During a meeting with Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon in Islamabad, MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar proposed the inclusion of all political parties in the panel. Qasim endorsed the proposal, saying that “national unity and broader political consensus on Kashmir were a pressing need of the time”. Dr Sattar added that a durable solution to the Kashmir issue was possible only through political and diplomatic means. Qasim proposed a “National Conference on Kashmir” to build broader political consensus and highlight the Kashmir issue more effectively at the international level. He also paid tribute t...

• Kashmir Martyrs’ Day being observed today • President, PM reaffirm pledge to support Kashmiris ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday urged the international community to play its role in ensuring respect for human rights in India-held Jammu and Kashmir and support efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of the long-simmering dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. In their messages on the eve of Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, they reaffirmed their pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder with Kashmiris steadfastly supporting their just cause. The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is observed on July 13 every year. “The Government of Pakistan reiterates its unwavering political, diplomatic, and moral support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We stand in complete solidarity with their just struggle for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in UNSC resolutions. Lasting peac...

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Sunday decided to establish a “grand” Kashmir peace jirga to facilitate dialogue between the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in an effort to restore stability and normalcy in the region. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s central Majlis-i-Shura chaired by JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman at Mansoorah, Lahore. According to a press release, the jirga will engage both the government and the JAAC, with the restoration of peace and the resolution of issues in AJK identified as its top priorities. To oversee the initiative, Rehman constituted a committee headed by JI Deputy Emir Liaqat Baloch. The committee included JI AJK Emir Dr Muhammad Mushtaq Khan and the party’s former regional chiefs Abdul Rashid Turabi and Dr Khalid Mahmood. The JI chief also indicated that the committee would be expanded to include former civil bureaucrats, retired judges, ex-military officials and members of civil society from AJK. The Shura exp...

AS someone who has practised international law for years, I have come to appreciate how infrequently genuine diplomatic openings appear. Countries often wait decades for such moments, and even fewer manage to convert them into an opportunity. Pakistan is now standing at one of those rare junctures. For decades, Islamabad has been at the receiving end of international opprobrium and has complained that its opinion carries little weight. Recently, Pakistan’s role in helping defuse tensions between the US and Iran has changed perceptions in global capitals. As a result, Pakistan’s diplomatic stature has risen significantly. The more important question is what comes next. Diplomatic goodwill has a short shelf life. The time has arrived to think differently about Kashmir. Pakistan has not pursued a sustained lawfare strategy through international institutions with sufficient seriousness. Put simply, lawfare is the deliberate use of legal institutions to achieve political objectives. For example, legal proceedings ...

ISLAMABAD - Minister for Defnece, Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday said that his remarks about the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) were made with honesty and sincerity, asserting that no propaganda or vested interests could weaken the historic and emotional bond between Pakistan and Kashmir.

ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the National Assembly’s (NA) Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, has requested NA Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to spare the time for a meeting discussing the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), it emerged on Monday. The regional administration and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) remain at odds over various issues, most notably the committee’s demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. In a letter addressed to Achakzai, Qasim wished to meet him at the earliest, citing the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader’s role in Pakistan’s political landscape and his continued engagement on matters of national importance. He stated that the proposed meeting would focus on the Kashmir dispute, the prevailing volatile situation in the region, and ways to strengthen Pakistan’s diplomatic, parliamentar...