When it's Kashmir, think before you speak: Haider to PM, FM

 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has advised the prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan "not to issue any statement on Kashmir without proper analysis of its pros and cons." 

 “Kashmir is a very sensitive issue and anything that can dishearten or agonize the struggling Kashmiris should be avoided at all costs,” he said at a function held here on Friday to mark the martyrdom anniversaries of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone.

He was alluding to a recent alleged statement of the foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Article 370 of Indian Constitution that had created quite a stir in Kashmir, apart from India and Pakistan.

“As far as the PML-N is concerned, from Mian Nawaz Sharif to a grassroots level worker, we will continue to fulfill our responsibilities in this regard and we hope the same from other parties,” Haider said. 

Paying tributes to the late Mirwaiz and Mr Lone and other martyrs, he said the sacrifices offered by the Kashmiris to actualize their dream of freedom would not go in vain.

Haider stressed that Kashmir was an indivisible entity and no decision on its fate could be made without the consultation and consent of the Kashmiris. 

“I want to make it clear that the liberated part of Kashmir [AJK] cannot be converted into a province until the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiri people. We will thwart every conspiracy aimed at division of our motherland,” he said. 

He said while there was no ideological friction among the freedom seeking Kashmiris in the India occupied territory, the people in the liberated territory were faced with ideological differences even though the right to self determination was a common demand of every Kashmiri. 

Haider asserted that the Kashmiris had linked their fate with Pakistan even before its creation and more than 75 years down the line there had been no change in their resolve.

“We can have differences with the government(s) of Pakistan but not with the people of Pakistan who have stood by us like a solid rock for the past 73 years,” he said. 

Separately, AJK President Sardar Masood Khan also paid tributes to Mirwaiz Farooq, Ghani Lone and other Kashmiri freedom fighters on their martyrdom anniversary.

In a statement, he reiterated his unflinching resolve that the struggle to get freedom from the oppressive Indian occupation and the realization of the right to self-determination would continue relentlessly and the mission left incomplete by Kashmiri martyrs would be accomplished.

“We vow to carry forward the mission of Kashmiri martyrs who offered supreme sacrifice of their lives to get rid of the oppressive foreign rule,” he asserted.

Describing Mirwaiz  Farooq and Ghani Lone as robust voices of the Kashmir freedom struggle that were targeted by the oppressor to weaken the liberation struggle, Khan said that their supreme sacrifices instead gave a new lease of life to the struggle for the right to self determination.

The intensity of the long struggle of the Kashmiris for freedom that has withstood decades of suppression and has grown stronger neither will reduce nor killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and other brute tactics can dampen the spirit of freedom, he said.

The AJK President assured that the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan will continue to extend political and diplomatic support to the struggling people of Jammu and Kashmir and they will not be left alone in their fight for freedom and liberty.

Later, after Friday prayers, the AJK premier also led a rally in Upper Adda to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine and occupied Kashmir.

He called upon the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to play a lead role in safeguarding Bait-ul-Muqadas and the rights of the oppressed Palestinian and Kashmiri people.

Tariq Naqash 

Justice Shiraz Kiani passes away, leaving High Court with only one judge

 

Justice Muhammad Shiraz Kiani, senior most judge of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court, passed away in an Islamabad hospital on Monday morning of brain paralysis after more than a month long hospitalisation, leaving the court with only one judge against its sanctioned strength of nine. 

Born in August 1965 in Ratta village of Mirpur district, Justice Kiani had joined judicial services as a civil judge in October 1995 and was elevated to the bench of the High Court in September 2015 “on account of his lengthy and meritorious service in the subordinate Judiciary,” according to the court’s website. 

On March 19 this year, AJK president had appointed him as acting chief justice to assume the office after the retirement of his predecessor Justice Azhar Saleem Babar on March 22. 

He took the oath of office on March 24 in Kashmir House Islamabad, a day before he was hospitalized there for treatment in the wake of a multitude of medical conditions.

On Sunday night he suffered brain paralysis that took his life within 12 hours, according to family sources. 

Mr Kiani will be laid to rest in his ancestral town of Dadyal after the funeral prayer at 11am on Tuesday, they said.

His sudden death plunged not only the legal fraternity in gloom but also people from all walks of life as he enjoyed the reputation of a thorough professional without any slightest political leanings.

Social media was flooded with condolence messages from across the state as well as from the Kashmiri diaspora members. 

“From subordinate to superior judiciary, Justice Muhammad Shiraz Kiani remained a celebrated jurist with invaluable services for dispensation of justice to all and sundry. His untimely death is an irreparable loss in [the] true sense of words…” wrote AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Twitter.

 “Today is a very sad day for me and all of us. Justice Shiraz Kiani has left us. In March, he was sworn in as Acting Chief Justice of AJK High Court. A soft-spoken professional known for humility and justness left for his eternal abode...” tweeted AJK President Sardar Masood Khan. 

AJK SUPERIOR COURTS SHORT OF JUDGES

While Justice Kiani was unable to perform his functions due to illness, Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja, the next senior judge, was appointed as acting CJ on April 17 till the former resumed his responsibilities.

It may be relevant to recall that since November 2019, the AJK High Court has seen removal of six judges due to flaws in the process of their appointment. 

On Nov 15, 2019, the then CJ M Tabassum Aftab Alvi was the first of the six judges to go and ever since the High Court is being run by an acting CJ, firstly by Justice Azhar Saleem Babar and late by Justice Kiani. 

After the demise of Justice Kiani, the AJK High Court has now been left with only one judge – acting CJ Sadaqat Hussain Raja - against its sanctioned strength of nine. 

On the other hand, the AJK Supreme Court is also working with only one judge – acting chief justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan – since December last year against its sanctioned strength of three. 

Under Article 42(4) of the AJK Constitution, AJK President appoints the Supreme Court CJ on the advice of the AJK Council chairman – Prime Minister of Pakistan - and under Article 43(2-A) the High Court CJ is appointed by the President on the advice of the AJK Council and after consultation with the apex court’s CJ.

Each of the other judges of both courts is appointed by the president on the advice of the chairman council after consultation with the chief justice(s). 

Due to the non-appointment of the permanent CJs, the process for the appointment of judges in both courts has been in limbo since long, triggering a serious judicial crisis in the territory. 

A number of submissions or ‘warnings’ in black and white, protest demonstrations and other peaceful measures by the AJK’s legal fraternity have failed to press the AJK Council chairman to appoint permanent CJs which subsequently has been obstructing the process for appointment against the vacant posts of judges. 

15th CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO RESOLVE CRISIS

It was in the wake of the very “inaction” on the part of the prime minister of Pakistan the AJK government was said to have decided to introduce 15^th constitutional amendment to reclaim the authority to appoint judges from the AJK council chairman.

“We will discuss and approve the 15th amendment bill in the cabinet meeting and table the same in the Legislative Assembly session on Tuesday,” a cabinet minister told this scribe on Monday evening, moments before the cabinet meeting in Kashmir House, with Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in the chair. 

The minister, who did not want to be identified, claimed that the move was taken in consultation with the central government “for a specified period” to address the ongoing judicial crisis. 

A press release issued by Raja Muhammad Wasim, press secretary to Prime Minister Haider, after the meeting stated that the cabinet had consented to an “interim procedure to address the issues arising out of the judicial crisis by making appointment of permanent CJs and judges for a period of two months.” 

However, late night developments suggested that the exercise had been shelved following reservations either by the central government or the powers that be. 

Tariq Naqash