Tag: Kashmir

LAHORE - Various religious parties on Friday finalised the arrangements to hold rallies in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day today. The main rally under the leadership of former Jamaat-i-Islami ameer Qazi Husain Ahmed will start from Nasir Bagh to Masjid-e-Shohada at 11am.
JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, Amir-ul-Azeem and others will speak on the occasion. In the afternoon, Jamaat-ud-Dawa's rally will start from Nasir Bagh and conclude at Punjab Assembly. Different

ISLAMABAD - The nation is set to observe 'Kashmir Solidarity Day' throughout Pakistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir today (Saturday) to reiterate solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for freedom. President Asif Ali Zardari at the President House in Islamabad would formally launch Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College in Mirpur Azad Jammu Kashmir while a joint sitting of both houses of the AJK Council and the AJK Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad is likely to

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hassan asked Parliament's Special Committee on Kashmir head Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday to resign from his office for his failures on Kashmir issue. Addressing a press conference, he said the parliament's committee failed in highlighting the Indian state terrorism in the Occupied Kashmir.
He backed the dialogue with India on the Kashmir issue but said that all the negotiations with India so far remained unfruitful

ISLAMABAD - Parliamentarians, intellectuals and opinion makers in Pakistan and India on Sunday urged the two countries to launch a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir and all other issues without further delay, cautioning that the absence of sustained engagement on conflicting matters would prove counterproductive and dangerous.
"The absence of a formal and sustained engagement on the full range of issues confronting India and Pakistan is unhealthy, counterproductive and dangerous. We

NEW DELHI - Indian Republic Day was celebrated Wednesday under heavy security, with tensions running high in Kashmir over efforts by Hindu nationalists to hold a rally in the troubled region's state capital.
Security was especially tight in New Delhi where large sections of the capital were sealed off for the annual parade of military hardware. Around 35,000 police personnel, including 15,000 members of the paramilitary forces, were deployed across the city for the event, which

GENEVA - The US could play a key role in allaying Pakistan's fears about India by getting involved in a solution to the Kashmir dispute, a senior Pakistani diplomat said on Friday. Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Zamir Akram, said attempts by India and Pakistan to negotiate a settlement were derailed after 2006 by Hindu or Muslim "extremist" groups in each country.
"Unfortunately the momentum has been lost," he told journalists. When asked what single

ISLAMABAD - The cash strapped Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to start construction work for Kashmir Highway while the civic body has stopped its many ongoing projects owing to the paucity of funds.
The CDA had decided to start construction work on the Kashmir Highway in March that would cost Rs 2.60 billion while around Rs 2 billion was required to complete those projects over which the CDA had stopped or slowed down the work due to the scarcity of funds, an

ISLAMABAD - US Ambassador Cameron Munter on Friday said the US could encourage Pakistan and India to resolve the issue of Kashmir through dialogue.
He was speaking at a discussion on the US-Pakistan relations held by Islamabad Programme in Global Studies.
He said the US could not dictate India or Pakistan, but as a friend of both countries, it could encourage the two sides to resolve the dispute over Kashmir. Munter said good relations between the two countries would be

The following is a compilation of questions to and answers from Ikram Sehgal, some in keeping with answers from the other panelists such as Gilles Dorronsoro, Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Shuja Nawaz, Director South Asia Center
The first question to the panel sounded more like a suggestion, and it went like this: "It seems to me almost like Pakistan saying it wants to find the terrorists is like OJ (Simpson) saying he wanted to find his wife's

ISLAMABAD - Claiming that only political parties from Azad Kashmir have right to represent the Kashmiri people, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Atique Ahmad on Sunday warned that any intervention of non-Kashmiri political parties in the state would be a 'counter-productive' for the Kashmir cause and Pakistan itself.
He was addressing a meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Muslim Conference held here. According to a source privy to deliberations at the meeting, the AJK

LAHORE - Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minster Sardar Attique Ahmad has said that India is planning to construct 250 small and mega dams over river Chenab. This situation would aggravate the already tense water situation, he said.
"If the inflows in the rivers continue to decline, people in cities like Lahore and Karachi may face water rationing in near future, he said while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik, Senior

ISLAMABAD - Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday urged the United Nations to move its machinery for implementing the resolutions on the Kashmir issue.
Lauding the resolution recently passed by the UN in support of right to self-determination in support of the nations subjected to occupation by other countries, the Maulana asked the world body to ensure implementation of its resolutions on Kashmir also.
In a statement, the Kashmir

MUZAFFARABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has criticised the chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Altaf Hussain, for supporting a dictatorial regime for 11 years.
During a public rally in Muzaffarabad on Sunday, wherein he formally announced to form the PML-N in Azad Jammu Kashmir, Nawaz slammed Altaf, saying those talking of a revolution should not have supported a dictator for 11 years.
Nawaz asked, "Why were 50 people killed in Karachi when the

WASHINGTON - The United States has stressed that Pakistan and India to have a significant dialogue on Kashmir and resolve the decade-old issue, where continuing violence this year further strained relations between the two neighbours.
"The issue of Kashmir has come up on a regular basis in our discussions with Pakistan and with India, and our answer to officials of both countries is generally the same, that ultimately, it's Pakistan and India that to have a significant dialogue

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Sunday said that Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has assured Pakistani leadership that his country would support Pakistan at all fronts. He was addressing a news conference here along with Pakistani ambassador in China, Masood Khan. When asked as to why the Chinese PM avoided to mention Kashmir issue, Kaira said, "There is no change in China's stance over Kishmir issue. Chinese premier has assured Pakistan that they

NEW DELHI - India's External Affairs Minister SM Krishna brought up Jammu Kashmir issue with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during his meeting, the Time of India newspaper reported on Thursday.
The paper reported that the Indian minister told the Chinese premier that Jammu Kashmir was still a core issue and "Kashmir to India is like what Tibet is to China."
The minister also discussed issue of stapled visa to Kashmiris, living in Indian Held Kashmir, and boundary disputes

SRINAGAR: If you ask MC Kash, he's just speaking the truth. But Kashmir's breakout rapper's songs are causing rebellion and could land him in jail. Kash calls himself a rebel who uses sharp rhymes and beats instead of stones or guns to protest India's rule over the mostly Muslim region in the Himalayas.
Kash, 20, whose real name is Roushan Illahi, has won a fan base among Kashmir's youth, whose summer uprising against Indian rule inspired his local hit "I Protest."
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