PRESS
COMMENTS
1.
Let entire JK elect constitution assembly’
New Delhi: JKLF leaders Hashim
Qureshi has written to the Indian and Pakistan Prime Minister and the UN
Secretary General questioning the validity of the resolutions on Kashmir and
suggesting elections in the whole of J&K including POK, Gilgit and Baltistan
to form a constitution assembly. A copy of the lettaer dated August 29 1993 was
sent to UNI from Amsterdam, where he has been living in self exile after his
release from the jail in Pakistan.
In
his letter Mr. Qureshi wrote that the UN resolutions on Kashmir were a result
of the India Pakistan conflict and had no mandate from the people of J&K.
in his earlier articles he had maintained that after the signing of the Simla
Agreement in 1972, the UN resolutions had lost their validity for the world
body gives legal status to bilateral agreement between member countries.
Mr.Qureshi
blamed the military bureaucracy for not allowing a settlement of the Kashmir
problem. He also blamed what he called anti democratic forces for this tension.
He wrote that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s deviation from his
support to the third option was a proof of how the real kings influenced
democratic institutions. In his interview to the BBC Mr. Sharif had favoured
the third option to Kashmir but he soon backslided.
Hitting
at the Pakistani military, he wrote, “How will the entire democracy be held
hostage to these Generals who live in the lap of luxury in a Third World
country, while exploiting the state powers whenever they wish?” He appealed to
the two Prime Ministers to open the borders in Kashmir to facilitate the
movement of the people. He also writes that elections be held in the whole of J&K without any
preconditions of the Indian constitution or the so-called interim constitution
of occupied Kashmir to form a constitutional
assembly.
(The Tribune, Chandigarh (India) September 10- 1992)
2.
Exiled JKLF member backs 3 way
talks.
Abu Dhabi: A tripartite meeting of
Kashmiris with officials from India and Pakistan is likely to met with more
effective results than continuation of an armed struggle, according to an
exiled member of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. Hashim qureshi
currently on a tour of Gulf and other countries to seek support for resolving
the contentious Kashmir issue, told Emirates News that a review of kahsmir
opinion world wide indicated that a tripartite meeting was more in favour among
them than recourse to militant tactics to resolve the situation. He suggested
that to initiate the process, an election for a constitutional assembly be held
in all parts of Jammu and Kashmir including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit, Baltistan,
without any preconditions.
Qureshi
hoped that the Kashmiri organizations will come together and bring in pressure
from the US ensure that free elections are held in Kashmir. Qureshi, who was
involved in the hijacking of an Indian plane in 1971, was given a sentence of
19 years that was later commuted to 9 years. He pointed out that he was only 17
years old when the hijacking took place. Such type of armed struggle was
unlikely to produce results, especially in Islamic nations, which abhor the use
of force, he pointed out.
Qureshi
who now lives in Amsterdam called for opening the borders to enable free
movement of Kashmiris across the territories held by India and Pakistan. He
urged that a quick decision be made to allow the Kashmiris to elect their
Government.
3.
Kashmiris hail tripartite talks plan
Abu Dhabi: Kashmiris living in
various parts of the world are in favour of dropping the armed struggle as a
means to gain independence and have endorsed the proposal calling for a
tripartite meeting to solve their chronic problems.
This
was started by Hashim Qureshi, an exiled member of the Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation front. Now on a tour of some countries to muster support for new
initiatives to relieve the deadlock over the disputed territory.
Qureshi
said Kshmiris should elect their own representatives who could confer with
officials from India and Pakistan. To set the ball rolling and election for a
constitutional assembly should be held in all parts of J&K including Azad
Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, without any preconditions of Indian constitution
or interim constitution of Azad Kashmir brought into play, he told Gulf News in
an interview Kashmiri organizations will blind together and seek the support of
US President elect Bill Clinton to pressurize India and Pakistan to allow free
elections in the occupied territories Qureshi Said.
The
world in this century can no longer accept armed struggle as a means of
achieving political self determination and Islamic nations have also slammed
the use of force to gain independence and freedom he remarked.
Calling for a change in the strategy
to resolve the contentious issue, he said the borders should be thrown open in
held territories,” Let people move freely and understand each other,” he said.
We should bear in mind that J&K is historically and geographically a
federal and confederated political entity. He stated, according to Qureshi whose
calm demeanor defies explanation of involvement in high drama events like
hijacking a workable and feasible mandate could be achieved only by elections
based on each constituency with these political units. Tragically even today
neither India nor Pakistan seems to realize the explosiveness of the situation
and wars never deliver solution, he said.
(Gulf
News, Janauary 7- 1993)
4.
Top JKLF leaders appeals for
peace,
New Delhi: the leader of the so
called JKLF, Hashim Qureshi, has appealed to the people of Kashmir not to play
into the hands of those who would not mind sacrificing the whole nation for
their own selfish ends, in a signed article sent to UNI he expounds his new
found philosophy of non violence instead of armed struggle in Kashmir. Armed
struggle he writes has driven six lakh Muslims from Kashmir to different parts
of India and has brought all round destruction in the valley besides defeating
the cause of the Kashmir movement. It has ruined the industry and rendered
people jobless. J&K was one state in India where the literacy percentage
was 47 per cent but now it seems the
whole new generation of Kashmir will be illiterate, thanks to the armed
struggle he says,
Those supporting armed struggle refer
to Afghanistan as an example of liberation through the barrel of the gun. But Afghanistan
has been turned into ruins and those fighting for its liberation are today
killing one another.” May God not give us the Afghanistan like liberation, he
writes.
Hashim who himself resorted to
terrorism as a means to achieve “liberation” for Kashmir in 1971, has now come
to realize that this tactical is only destroying the kashmiris and encouraging those who masquerade
as “holy warriors (mujahedeen) once these holy warriors” are caught they become
informers for the Indian army. Instead
of fighting the Indian army these mujahedeen kidnap and kill Kashmiri for money
generating feelings of hatred he says
But the Muslim are still
not prepared to accept the truth just like the Pakistani government which in
1971 kept on telling the people of how its army was scoring victory after
victory against the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini in East Bengal. But on
December 16 the whole Pakistan nation was shocked into frenzy when the truth
came before them Qureshi says. He writes that even Pakistanis have begun to
fear that Kashmir might further break up the country. He appealed to the
Kashmiri to let those who had fled the state return home without any
preconditions and also asked the Indian intelligentsia to raise their voice
against the alleged atrocities in Kashmir perpetrated by what he calls the
Indian security forces.
(The Independent, New Delhi January 24
1993)
5.
Joint political forum key to Kashmir problem’
Peshawar: Hashim Qureshi, the
exiled leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has suggested that a
joint political forum could be more useful towards thrashing out the 46 years
old problem instead of violence. He was here on a short visit and during an
informal chat with newsmen, strongly advocated the need for changing the
strategy for solving the Kashmir dispute.
In
this connection he suggested that the armed struggle against the Indian had
failed to produce any results so far except that it had resulted in large scale
killing of innocent Muslims and vast destruction of their property. Because it
had encouraged some of the political parties in Pakistan to actively involved
in the struggle in one way or another. That, he said was more true about the
Jammat- e- Islami and the Muslim League backed Muslim conference. The former he
alleged had collected large amounts of money in the name of kashmiris but none
of the money had reached the Kashmir freedom fighter. A political platform, he suggested
besides putting an end to massacre and devastation, will eliminate the chance
of the issue being exploited for political motives by such parties. He viewed
that instead of being provoked on the possibility of the third option, that is
independent Kashmir the authors of the Kashmir
banega Pakistan; must keep in mind that the third option had, for the first
time been suggested by no less a person than the Quaid-e-Azam. He quoted the
All India Muslim League President from the Pakistan Times dated June 18 1947
who said.
“The Indian states would be free either to join the Indian constituent
assembly or the Pakistan constituent assembly or to remain independent.”
Those opposing the third option he believed, were not doing so on principles
but only because they feared that they would lose their political “Jamadaris”.
Hashim
Qureshi said that those advocating the armed struggle must realize the damage
and ruin it had already caused and could cause further. The traditional cottage
industry of the valley, he said, had been totally destroyed while tourism had
also ceased to exist. Besides, he pointed out the happenings in the valley had
unnecessarily created serious problems for
Pakistan which could be on the verge of being declared a terrorist state
on charges of supplying arms and ammunition to the “Mujahedeen” in the occupied
Kashmir.
The
Muslim Ummah`s approach as a whole he remarked has been a total disappointment
over the issue while within the valley itself the kashmiris were divided into
135 different groups with some of them serving as informers against each other
. he observed that the situation in the valley was gradually causing
frustration which obviously could not be helpful to their cause.
(The
Muslim, Islamabad, May 1- 1993)
This article is published in my book "Kashmir: The unveiling of
truth", 1998
