The Kashmir S aga and S olidarit

ZAfAr SuLtAn

Ghulam Muhammad Mir a noted Kashmiri researcher and intellectual, laments that Kashmiri leaders themselves became arai•sond’ê•tre of all atrocities which befell Kashmir Hemoans: every day in the calendar is a Martyr s Day It is an unforgiving fact that barbarous invaders Mehr Gul and Zilchu Khan who annihilated the Kashmiris wantonly, enjoyed the indigenous support Similarly the Mughals the Afghans and the Sikhs (who were no less brutal than Mehr Gul and Zilchu Khan) were also invited to invade Kashmir by none others but the Kashmiris themselves

It is hard to deny the fact that none of the rulers of Pakistan and Kashmir made any sincere effort(s) to engage the international community to get the Kashmir issue resolved While there is no denying that wars of 1947 and 1965 were fought to liberate Kashmir but due to lack of proper planning, uncanny haste and gross insincerity of civmil leadership, those efforts bore no fruit: the military endeavors failed to alleviate the grief of the people of Kashmir

Every year, On 5February, Kashmir Solidarity Day is observed AJK and Pakistan to express support to Kashmiri brethren But would mere on a day to celebrate and make speeches help liberate Kashmir or garner the international opinion in its favour? In this context one must not forget the historical speeches delivered very eloquently by erstwhile foreign minister Sir Zafar Ullah Khan (1954) which failed stir the conscience of global community

While observing the Kashmir Solidarity Day, people must not forget that in Shimla Agreement (1972), Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto altered the status of cease fire to line of control (LOC), thereby practically dividing people of Azad Kashmir and the occupied Kashmir Later, the infamous four point formula advanced by general Musharraf followed by Asif Ali Zardari plan to freeze Kashmir for thirty years further damped and dumped the Kashmir issue Nawaz Sharif also chose silence on Kashmir issue and preferred trade over the tragedies of Kashmir Shockingly, he suggested the Kashmiri leadership to seek the solution to Kashmir staying within the ambit of the Indian constitution

Equally appalling are the recent revelations about former Army chief ’s plans to invite Indian PM, NarendraModi to join the annual four-day pilgrimage to the Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Lasbela Baluchistan The subsequent plan to open Hinglaj corridor

“Vegetables were exported every year depending on their availability but potato and onion hold a big share A bumper potato crop has proved highly helpful in offsetting the falling exports of onion, said Waheed Ahmed, Patron in Chief of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA)

Last year, floods in Sindh and Balochistan have devastated onion crops, while Pakistan’s potato production soared to 7 937m tonnes in FY22 from 5 873m tonnes in FY21 up by 35pc as floods did not hit Punjab which is a hub of potato production

However the industry is still facing a lot of challenges “Potato is not a crop for poor people because its initial cost of production is high 35-40% of the cost goes to seeds ” said Syed Ijaz ul Hassan, director of Potato Research Institute Sahiwal Pakistan imports 20 000 tons of potato seeds every year To change this situation, Potato Research Institute Sahiwal is making efforts to develop local potato varieties “The institute has create the potato varieties including PRI, Sadaf, Sahiwal, Cosmo, and Ijaz 22 Some of the seeds grown in Sahiwal produce as much as foreign breeds and some produce even more,” added Syed Pakistan potato is exported mainly to CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries like Russia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, UAE, Oman, the entire gulf and Singapore, Malaysia in the Far East

y Day

between the two countries by connecting Barmer to Hinglaj Mata Mandir and clandestine meetings of former spymaster, General Faiz Hameed with Indian National Security Advisor, Ajeet Doval in Dubai to open trade and resume cricketing ties with each other traumatized people in Pakistan and AJK However, majority of people in Azad Jammu and Kashmir deeply reveres former PM Imran Khan for thwarting that schema and raising the Kashmir very boldly at 74th United Nations General Assembly Session in 2019

Even more scything reality is that gross indifference of Kashmiri leadership, to Kashmir issue has confused our new generation as regards its significance, nature of struggle and any viable solution The more agonizing fact is that the Kashmiri leadership, by and large, is insensible to the historical, civilizational and cultural realities of Kashmir It is more concerned about power corridors in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad (appeasing Nodero and Raiwind) than sufferings in Srinagar In this backdrop, it is hard to expect any substantial contribution from them Today when we are yet again observing the Solidarity Day 5 February 2023 we must recall the ghastly incidents that un- gion and ethnicity ” he said

Mr Shah said that to make this historic partnership formal, the Patients Aid Foundation and the Government of Sindh have signed an Agreement for 25 years to operate various facilities at JPMC to further improve the free diagnosis and treatment facilities that would otherwise be beyond the reach of a common person

According to the Chief Minister, the JPMC is the only public sector hospital in Pakistan that offers free PET-Ct & PET-MR irrespective of the type of cancer There is no free PET SCAN facility anywhere in Pakistan ” he said and added that in private healthcare centers, it could cost as much as Rs90,000 per scan

The CM said that the doctors have told him that a cancer patient may require two to three PET scans d u r i n g t h e t r e a t m e n t P e t s c a n a n d c y c l o t r o n a t JPMC is also a joint project of the Sindh government and Patients’ Aid Foundation, which I had init i a t e d i n 2 0 1 6 , ” M r S h a h r e c a l l e d a n d s a i d t h a t J P M C e n t e r t a i n s t h e l a rg e s t n u m b e r o f p a t i e n t s compared to any other center in Pakistan

The Cyberknife Unit chief Prof Tariq told me that he still has a waiting list of around 2,000 pat i e n t s I n o r d e r t o a d d r e s s t h i s g r a v e s i t u a t i o n I am announcing the approval of Enhancement of the A n n u a l G r a n t t o P a t i e n t s A i d F o u n d a t i o n f o r t h e year 2023-24 from Rs340 million to Rs540 million

Walk marks Kashmir

Solidarit y Day at D-Chowk Islamabad

ISLAMABAD p R

Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and GilgitBaltistan, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chairman Sweet Homes Zamurd Khan, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Noorul Amin Mengal, IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan along with senior police and administration officers, a large number of officials, students, journalists and others also participated in the Solidarity walk commenced from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concluded in D-Chowk Islamabad The students of Pakistan Sweet Home (PSH) had specially participated under the leadership of its CEO Zamrud Khan IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan along with other officers checked the security arrangements in red zone and directed the officers to make it more effective The participants had carried placards, banners and posters prescribing that Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan, the international community should break the silence, Kashmiris are waiting for international justice, Kashmir issue has become a human crisis and Pakistan would continue to support the Kashmir cause They also chanted slogans such as Kashmir wants freedom from Indian illegally occupation struggle would remain to continue till freedom, and the entire nation is standing with Kashmir One minute silence was also observed during the walk to express their sympathies with the Kashmir people in this difficult time Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and GilgitBaltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira said Pakistani nation was observing the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Sunday (February 5) across the world to give a strapping message of supporting the right to self-determination folded in early 1930s On 5 February 1932 in a mosque in Uri on day of jumatul

Widah, the Muslims, having offered prayer, protested against the tyrannies of Dogra Raj

It prompted the army to fire butchering 9 and injuring more than forty people Before that carnage, the killing spree in Srinagar Jail had maimed seventy some and more than one fifty Kashmiri Muslims

In the aftermath of Jamia Masjid closure, and the desecration of The Quran wide protests erupted which resulted in more deaths Those incidents incited Maha Raja to devise heinous plans quell the protesters

After sacking George Wakefield, Maha Raja appointed Raja Hari Kishan Kaul as the prime minister of the state, who committed to repress the movement within four months

To bring the situation under control the government cobbled a Glanci Commission in November 1931 In the meantime Mr Jivan laal Minto, one of the agents of the Prime Minister Kaul kindled a movement in Mirpur and Rajuri, provoking people to nonpay the land tax to the government In fact his sinister plan was to infuriate the government irritating it to launch a severer action

Feeling visibly agitated, to put down the massive unrest, the Maharaja asked the British Indian government for military aid and action As a result, for the first time, two Irish Infantry Divisions and one Horse Cavalry Regiment launched an assault on the armless farmers of Mirpur and Rajuri That outright butchery resulted in murder of around a thousand Muslims in Mirpur and around four hundred in Rajuri The number of injured farmers was never revealed

After carnage in Mirpur, Sheikh Abdullah who was in Srinagar jail telegrammed the government completely dissociating himself with the movement in Mirpur and Rajuri and the subsequent murders of Muslims there Following that announcement Sheikh Abdullah was released from jail, compounding miseries of the Muslims

Last year on February 5 the then PM Imran Khan addressed the Kashmir Assembly in Muzaffarabad and asserted to serve as an ambassador to the people of Kashmir It is a fact that IK continued to uphold that commitment, despite enormous hurdles created by establishment and bureaucracy This time some other government dignitaries are likely to visit Muzaffarabad and demonstrate solidarity with the people of Kashmir

Many raise these pertinent questions Is merely observing the Kashmir Solidarity Day an answer to angst of the Kashmiris? Do Kashmiris have any strength, liberty and farsightedness to chalk out and pursue a plan to liberation honour and peace?

The writer is an academic based in Islamabad and can be approached at sliklight55@gmail com