In United Nations, Pak says J&K a bilateral issue

Slap on the face of Mirwaiz

Jammu, Jan 5: Pakistan yesterday pooh-poohed and showed Kashmiri separatists like APHC-M chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq their rightful place and asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is a bilateral issue, which is to be sorted out by India and Pakistan through discussion and dialogue, and not a trilateral issue, which needs to be resolved jointly by Pakistan, India and Jammu and Kashmir. "When we talk about the bilateral dimension of this issue (Jammu and Kashmir), of course it has to be settled by India and Pakistan and we do realize that the UN resolutions are an important framework for the settlement of this dispute," Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan said the other day at the United Nations.

Masood Khan explained the Pakistani position while briefing media persons on Islamabad assuming the month-long Presidency of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council and said that "the (UN) resolutions are there. They are relevant and in the meantime the dialogue between India and Pakistan must continue". There was no ambiguity whatsoever in his statement on Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani stand on it, notwithstanding his remark that the "wishes" of the people of State would also be considered. Leave aside the fact that Pakistan has already subverted the archaic UN resolutions beyond recognition.

What Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Khan said could be construed as a big slap on the face of Kashmiri separatists like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had only nine days ago (Dec 27) beguiled some Kashmiri Muslims by suggesting that Pakistan had agreed to a "no bilateral pact on (Jammu&)Kashmir". Describing the 10-day-long Pakistan visit as a "successful one", Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had said that the "biggest achievement of the amalgam's (seven-member delegation) Islamabad trip was that Pakistan has agreed that there will be no bilateral agreement on Kashmir with India." "We told the Pakistan leadership that the people of Kashmir are the legitimate party to the Kashmir dispute. We also told them that the people's aspirations can't be by-passed. Pakistan accepted the 'indigenous character of Kashmiris' as far as finding a permanent solution to Kashmir is concerned. We persuaded Pakistan not to enter into any bilateral agreement with India over Kashmir. The biggest achievement of our visit is that Islamabad agreed that no bilateral pact on Kashmir would be entered into. Once Pakistan will refuse bilateral solution on Kashmir, the step will naturally pave way for a trilateral dialogue that would ultimately end up in settlement of the issue," he had also said.

But Mirwaiz is Mirwaiz. He will not tender an unconditional apology to his constituency for preaching falsehood. It is for his constituency to differentiate between what Mirwaiz said on December 27 and what Pakistan Ambassador Khan to the United Nations said on January 3 and adopt an appropriate course of action against those who have been living on the blood and sweat of gullible Kashmiri’s.

Source: http://earlytimesnews.com/newsdet.aspx?q=103224