Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), an organisation advocating reunification and complete independence of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday called upon Islamabad to have a “serious review” of its policy on the disputed Himalayan region in the wake of India’s unilateral August 5, 2019 move.
“Pakistan should formally rescind the Simla Accord of 1972 with India to free itself as well as the Kashmiris from the futility of bilateralism and take the issue of Kashmir to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC),” said the JKLF in an ‘open letter’ to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a copy of which was also emailed to Dawn.
Pakistan’s failure to engage with the UN has enabled India to continue her aggression against the Kashmiris, maintained the organisation in the more than 2200 words letter, signed by its acting chairman Raja Muhammed Haq Nawaz Khan.
The JKLF asserted that the “lack of meaningful political and diplomatic measures on the part of Pakistan” to counter India’s illegal unilateral action of August 5, 2019 had subsequently intensified “serious apprehensions among the Kashmiris about Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and policy on the status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).”
“For almost 75 years, the Kashmiris have come to expect Pakistan’s ardent support for their right to freely decide on the status of their internationally disputed homeland. There is a painful realization, especially since August 2019, that Pakistan's stated policy of support for the struggle and territorial integrity of Kashmir within the UN Charter and relevant UNSC resolutions has changed.”
The JKLF maintained that India’s August 5, 2019 move was a fundamental departure from the historic context of the issue which required a “robust political and diplomatic response” from Pakistan. "But Islamabad’s response can hardly be considered appropriate, let alone robust."
“Far from having to explain her aggression against Kashmir to the UNSC, the Indian government has been emboldened, despite having defied the UN resolutions 38, 91, and 122 with Kashmir’s annexation,” it added.
While urging Islamabad “not to proceed with its policy of absorbing either GB or AJK into its federation or extending AJK’s representation in the National Assembly,” it went on to demand the repeal and dissolution of the Karachi Agreement of April 28, 1949, whereby the administrative control of GB was handed over by the AJK government to the government of Pakistan.
Islamabad should instead support the formation of a democratically elected and fully empowered national revolutionary representative government of AJK and GB as one political entity, with an “Independent Joint Council” (IJC) representing both the regions, as its upper house, it suggested.
It also called upon Islamabad to enter into a “constructive dialogue” with the Kashmiri leadership on the existing policy as well as the one warranted by the situation in the wake of India’s actions on and after August 5, 2019.
Elaborating its ICJ formation proposal, the JKLF said that Islamabad should allow both AJK and GB to have their separate democratically elected assemblies and fully empowered governments and let them form the IJC comprising members appointed by both governments.
The IJC would not only act as a constitutional bridge between the people of AJK and GB but would also ensure a formal relationship with the government and the state of Pakistan within the framework of the UNCIP resolutions as well as the mutual interests of both sides, it added.
The JKLF also urged Islamabad to enable the current governments in Muzaffarabad and Gilgit to formally open a dialogue between them with reference to its recommendations, with participation in the process from the parties that had no representation in either of the assemblies.
Tariq Naqash
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