Senators for joint parliamentary session to devise effective strategy on Kashmir issue

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26 (APP): Senators on Monday, while condemning anti-Pakistan statements of the Indian prime minister and atrocities committed by the Indian forces in the occupied valley, called for convening a joint sitting of the parliament to devise an effective strategy for highlighting Kashmir issue at all fora.
Speaking on a motion moved by Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini in the Senate that the House may discuss the present state of relations between Pakistan and India, especially after the recent statements made by the Indian prime minister regarding Pakistan, they viewed that a comprehensive briefing should be given to the lawmakers.
Opening discussion on the motion, Dr Jamaldini said the House should be apprised about the recent development and relations with India.
He condemned the Indian prime minister for leveling false allegations against Pakistan and his statements about Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said both India and Pakistan spent their major resources on establishing militaries while their people were facing a host
of problems.
He sought an in-camera briefing to the Senators on the issue.
Col ® Tahir Hussain Mashahdi of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that Pakistan wanted peace in the region. However, its armed forces were fully prepared to thwart any threat or aggression, he added.
He said India through levelling such allegations wanted to divert the attention of international community from the Kashmir issue and atrocities being committed by its forces on the innocent Kashmiris.
He said the nation stood behind the armed forces.
Mashahdi said talks should be held with India but it should be
construed as Pakistan’s weakness.
Sassui Palijo of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said India always started leveling allegations when it was exposed before the international community for its brutalities on innocent Kashmiri people.
She asked the prime minister to take on board all the political parties before going to attend the United Nations General Assembly session. The Indian involvement in Pakistan and particularly in Balochistan, should be fully exposed, she added.
She called for collective wisdom to cope up with such issues.
Lt Gen ® Abdul Qayyum of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) said Indians had been levelling baseless allegations for the last 69 years. India wanted hegemony in the region and always maligned Pakistan by leveling false allegations, he said.
He said the Uri attack drama was staged to divert world attention from the Kashmir issue and brutalities being committed by the Indian forces on innocent people.
There was double fencing on the border and no one could penetrate (into India) from it, he added.
The prime minister, he added, had also categorically said that the long lasting peace in the region could not be maintained without the resolution of Kashmir issue.
Mushahid Hussain Syed of the PML-Q complimented the prime minister for effectively presenting the Kashmir issue in the UN General Assembly session.
India, he said, had failed to isolate Pakistan in comity of nations. China, Turkey and OIC supported Pakistan’s stance. The Russian troops came to Pakistan for joint exercise with Pak Army despite Indian efforts to stop them.
The Iranian President in a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also showed interest in China Pakistan Economic Corridor project and linked Iran’s stability with that of Pakistan, he added.
He said there was need to expose the Indian Prime Minister at international fora.
Muzaffar Hussain Syed of the PML-F said the occupied valley
witnessed uprising after the murder of Burhan Wani, who was considered as a symbol of the Karhmiri resistance.
He called for convening of an All Parties Conference and joint sitting of the parliament, besides adopting an aggressive policy.
Maulana Attaur Rehman of the JUI-F said it was a part of international conspiracy against Pakistan and called for a joint parliamentary sitting to brief the lawmakers.
Mohsin Aziz of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) said the whole nation
was on a same page and Indian Prime Minister Modi should be declared a terrorist as he himself confessed on so many occasions his anti-Pakistan plans.
He said India was also interfering in Balochistan and involved in destabilizing Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should also raise Indian involvement in Balochistan at the UN, he added.
Hafiz Hamdullah of the JUI-F said all the decisions should be taken at the floor of the parliament.
Azam Khan Swati of the PTI said the prime minister pleaded the Kashmir cause effectively at the UN forum. Pakistan did not want war with India, but the latter would have to settle the long standing issue of Kashmir in light of the UN resolutions, he added.
Sherry Rehman of the PPP said the UN General Assembly was a good platform and Pakistan should also highlight human rights violations in Kashmir.
She said a joint sitting should be convened to build consensuses.
Kashmir had become a flash point in the region where genocide of innocent Kashmiris was being done, she added.
Ayesha Raza of the PML-N said,”We strongly condemn atrocities in Kashmir. The Kashmir issue cannot be dragged under the carpet. Today uprising in Kashmir is indigenous led by youth. Men and children are coming out on roads defying curfew.”
She said the prime minister highlighting the Kashmir issue in his speech at the UN kept it alive.
Mukhtar Damra of the PPP said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s policy with regard to Kashmir be followed. Consensus should be built up on the issue in the joint session, he added.