ALTAF HUSSAIN ASKS KASHMIRIS TO REJECT OFT-TESTED POLITICAL PARTIES

MUZAFFARABAD: 19^TH JUNE 2011

 

The Founder and Leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Mr Altaf Hussain has said that the future in Azad Jammu and Kashmir belongs to the MQM. The time was not far when there would be an MQM government in Kashmir and the Kashmir dispute lying on the backburner for the past 63 years would also be settled. Time had come for the people of Kashmir to reject the political parties that had been tested again and again and to turn down rich politicians indulging in dynastic politics. He was addressing a big election meeting in the capital Muzaffarabad of Azad Kashmir.

He asked the Kashmir people to support the MQM and make its candidates successful in the elections. The present government was putting undemocratic pressure on the MQM regarding the elections but he asserted that the MQM would not submit before the government or any other power. The struggle would continue.

Speaking about the Kashmir dispute Mr Hussain said that it was unfortunate that the Kashmir dispute was divided between India and Pakistan while Kashmiri people were facing problems and hardships. Kashmiri families were torn between Azad Kashmir and Held Kashmir and they did not have facilities to meet with each other.

He said that the nature had endowed Kashmir with an abundant supply of natural resources. Kashmiri people were giving sacrifices for the freedom but it was irony of the fate that they were deprived of full freedom because of callousness of the governments and political parties in India and Pakistan. The rulers of India and Pakistan used the Kashmir people as a political football and did not pay attention towards solving problems of the Kashmiri people.

He said that it was with the grace of Allah that the MQM had come to Kashmir. People were joining the MQM in large numbers. The public meeting in Muzaffarabad was a pointer to the fact the future in Kashmir belonged to the MQM.

He said that the Kashmir dispute would be resolved according to the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people and not according to the whims of rulers and politicians in India and Pakistan. The decision about the better future for the coming generations of Kashmir people should belong to the Kashmir people alone but this fundamental right had always been denied to them. He made fervent appeal to the rulers and the Establishments of India and Pakistan not to make the Kashmir people a victim of their enmity. The Kashmiri people should be given the right to carve their destiny themselves.

He asked the Indian government to stop military action and desist from using state power in the Held Kashmir. The Indian army should be stopped from killing innocent Kashmir people and from desecrating Kashmiri women. The Kashmiri people should be given the right of self-determination according to the resolutions of the United Nations.

He regretted that the political parties of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir exploited the Kashmir dispute for their personal gains and for promoting dynastic politics and the real problems were not given due attention. He asked the people to tell for themselves as to which political party arrived in Kashmir soon after the catastrophic earthquake in 2005 when bodies were strewn in the streets and people were trapped under the debris. The people replied that it was the MQM.

He lamented that the MQM was portrayed as the enemy of the Kashmiri, Baluchi, Pashtun, and the Punjabi people. But when the earthquake struck Khyber Pakhtoonkhwah and the floods came it was the MQM that arrived there for providing relief. When the famine struck in Baluchistan it was the MQM that arrived for helping the people. Similarly it was the MQM that came to the help of the people of the Punjab after the devastating floods. He asked how can those who cast aside their comfort for helping the people in the time of need be their enemy.

Addressing the Kashmir people he asked them to reject the political parties that had been tested time and again and support the party that stood by them in the hour of need. He asked them to make the MQM candidates successful in the elections.

He said that the MQM was not a party of the feudal lords. It was a party of the poor and middle class people. The MQM did not want to change the borders of the country. It only wanted to change the decayed political system of the country and empower the poor and middle class people. The MQM had not only raised slogans for the rights of the common people but also actually sent them in the assemblies.

He said that the MQM never sold party tickets at the time of election. The tickets were always given to the sacrificing and competent persons. The MQM sent common people in the corridors of power and brought them at par with the big landlords. This was frowned upon by the ruling elite and the Establishment.  A worst operation was started by the state against the MQM during which thousands of the MQM workers were martyred and injured and thousands other were arrested, displaced and forced to go in exile.

He said that no one could understand the sufferings of the Kashmir people better than the MQM. We remained steadfast in the face of hardships and unending vitriolic propaganda unleashed against us. It was because of our patience that the MQM had reached Kashmir. He asked the Kashmiri people to spread the message of the MQM if they wanted to bring a change in their fate.

He said that despite the fact that we were coalition partner in the present government at the federal and provincial level yet it was trying to browbeat us in the coming election. He asserted that we would not submit before undemocratic tactics and manoeuvrings. He asked the Kashmir people to rise above divisive tendencies and get united for their rights.

He said that the people affected by the Mangla Dam Raising Project would be given alternate land. He promised that a transparent audit will be done of the funds collected after the earthquake of 2005. Residential colonies will be made for Kashmiri migrants and they would be given Rs 1500 – 2000 as allowance. Kashmir would also get royalty from the electricity generated at Mangla Dam like Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Roads and infrastructure presently in very bad shape would be improved. He promised the construction of two way roads if the MQM formed government in Azad Kashmir. He said that steps would be taken to generate employment.