Srinagar: Various pro-freedom groups Wednesday expressed gratitude to Pakistani government for observing the “Kashmir Solidarity Day” and thanked the country and its people for supporting the “freedom struggle of Kashmiri people.”
During a meeting in New Delhi with Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Mansoor Ahmad Khan , Chairman Hurriyat Conference(M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said Kashmiris were “grateful to Pakistan for its unambiguous moral, political and diplomatic support.”
“ Pakistan’s support of Kashmiris at the international level has been a source of encouragement and will continue to remain so,” Mirwaiz said, according to a statement issued here.
Khan, according to the statement, assured the Mirwaiz on behalf of the Nawaz Sharif government, that Pakistan would continue to support Kashmiris till a “just resolution of the Kashmir dispute.”
Syed Ali Geelani, who heads the parallel Hurriyat faction, said while it was “commendable that the Pakistan National Assembly had passed a resolution condemning human rights violations by Indian forces in Kashmir, the government of Pakistan needs to do more to highlight the issue.”
“On the diplomatic front, Pakistan should present a fresh resolution in United Nations and try and win as much as international support for a just resolution of Kashmir dispute,” Geelani said.
Thanking Pakistan for it s support, Geelani said that the Pakistan had always favoured the right to self-determination for Kashmiri people and suffered heavy losses for its principled stand on Kashmir.
Geelani, however, lashed out at “policy adopted by the former President of Pakistan Pravez Musharaf which was contrary to the traditional stand of Pakistan’s Kashmir policy.”
Musharraf’s four- point formula only helped India hijack the situation in its favour, he said, and expressed hope “the present government of Pakistan will not compromise on the country’s traditional stand on Kashmir and follow the policies of Parvez Mushraf.”
The breakaway faction of Hurriyat Conference (M) meanwhilealso expressed gratitude to Pakistan government for expressing solidarity with Kashmiris and highlighting the “oppression and brutalities of the Indian government on the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
According to a statement, a meeting was held at party headquarters here under the chairmanship of Shabir Ahmad Shah. Among others present in the meeting included Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Muhammad Yusuf Naqash, Shabir Ahmad Dar, Muhammad Iqbal Mir and Wajhat Qureshi. “During the meeting, the atrocities inflicted upon the people of Kashmir by Indian government, and Pakistan’s diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris’ freedom movement was discussed,” the statement said.
“The leaders present on the occasion expressed their gratitude to Pakistani government for highlighting the oppression and brutalities inflicted upon Kashmiris by the hands of Indian government, at various embassies and through various ambassadors across the world,” it said.
“Pakistani government and its people have done a commendable job by highlighting Kashmir issue and the miseries suffered by the people by the hands of Indian forces since 1947,” the statement quoted Shah as saying.
Shah also expressed optimism that Pakistan will continue to provide every possible support to Kashmiri movement till it is taken to its logical conclusion. “He also addressed various cities of Pakistan telephonically in connection with February 5,” the statement said.

Reader correspondent