Jammu, August 26
The Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) government has put on its official website a report indicating that the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference was Kashmir-centric and did not represent the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The report released by the Kashmir Liberation Cell of the PoK government says that though the visit of the Hurriyat Conference delegation led by Umar Farooq was termed as the biggest turnaround in confidence-building measures for Kashmir, but their tour has given an impression that their politics remain centered around the concerns of the valley. This renders Hurriyat’s claim of representing the entire state and the subjects of Jammu and Kashmir debatable.
The report titled “Kashmir’s Scapegoats?”, written by Mr Ismail Khan, a development analyst from Skardu (Northern Areas), points out that having been the seat of Kashmir’s maharaja’s the thickly populated valley and its capital Srinagar, do hold special historical importance. But the valley does not and cannot represent the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir. In fact, in terms of geographical spread, it is several times smaller than many of the six districts of the northern areas.
It alleges that Kashmiri leaders were ignoring Gilgit, Baltistan and northern areas.
The report says a final settlement of Kashmir without taking into account the overall geographic contours and wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be an exercise in futility.
The report alleges that the people of Gilgit and Baltistan have not been provided representation.
Many in the northern areas fear that the Hurriyat’s cold attitude towards their region will widen the distance between mainland Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan.
The report laments that the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan recommending grant of due political and constitutional representation to the northern areas in the parliament of Pakistan stand ignored.
