JEDDAH, 28 August 2006 — Newly elected Prime Minster Sardar Atiq Khan of Azad Kashmir (Pakistan-administered Kashmir) accused India of continuing with “unprovoked firing” along the border and not cooperating with Pakistan in confidence-building measures.
Addressing a meeting organized by the local unit of All-Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference, Atiq said India had amassed up to 800,000 troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which is in “India’s occupation” and it was making no move to address the root cause of the problem.
“In spite of their presence, the morale of the mujahedeen (freedom fighters) remained high and they are confident and optimistic about achieving their goal — freedom for Kahsmiris,” he said.
Referring to the recent election conducted in Azad Kashmir, the prime minister said: “There was no incident of forgery and the polls were smoothly conducted.”
After the massive earthquake (Oct. 8, 2004), which caused a colossal human and material destruction, it was taken for granted that no one would take part in the election. “But the results show a 53 percent turnout of voters. This demonstrates that democracy is working very well in Azad Kashmir,” he added. “This was the first election in the region and we prefer to call it a trouble-free election,” he said. Outlining various measures that he was contemplating for the quake-hit region, Atiq said: “We’re going to build a strong, modern Kashmir.” One of the measures is to launch a toll-free number so that it becomes accessible to Kashmiris in all parts of the world to offer suggestions for the region’s progress. “We’re also building a memorial tower that will fly the flags of the countries that have made donations to the quake-hit region,” he said. “We’re going ahead with rebuilding Kashmir despite unprovoked firing from India, which is meant to stop the renovation process,” Atiq said.
