Move beyond cosmetic measures: Er Rasheed to Indo-Pak
Srinagar: Reacting on granting of visa to five Pakistani children by Indian external affairs ministry for providing them treatment in India, Awami Itehaad party (AIP) president and MLA Langate, Engineer Abdul Rasheed Sheikh Friday appealed both the countries to move beyond cosmetic measures.
“While granting visa to Pakistani children is a welcome move but given the sufferings of divided families of Kashmiris on both the sides of LOC, the move is too small. New Delhi needs to answer about the sufferings of hundreds of divided Kashmiri families who had migrated to Pakistani Administered Kashmir (PAK) and face enormous hurdles in contacting each other on the two sides of LOC,” the Legislator from Langate said in a statement issued here.
He said that if Sushma Swaraj feels the pain of humans then she should persuade her government to allow Kashmiris meeting each other on the LOC in Karnah, Nowgam, Uri, Karen, Rajouri, Ponch and other border areas.
“Isn’t it shameful that the divided families who are just few meters apart from each other on the opposite sides of LOC have to travel hundreds of miles via Amratsar to condole the demises in their families,” he said, adding that the only thing these divided families get from the two countries is the cross LOC shelling and making their life a hell.
He said that even many Kashmiris whose kids had migrated to Pakistan Administrative Kashmir decades back are not allowed to visit their beloved ones.
“While many of these migrant Kashmiris have lost their lives in accidents, natural deaths or due to some other cause, their family members from this side of Kashmir are not being allowed to visit their respective places of residence in PaK,” he added.
The Langate lawmaker said while on the one hand New Delhi is trying to have a human face but on the other hand has been denying passport to most of the families whose beloved ones are residing in other parts of the world especially Pakistan and Pakistani controlled Kashmir.
“New Delhi and Islamabad need to reconsider their policies and move beyond cosmetic measures, so that the divided families on both the sides of LOC get some genuine relief till the Kashmir issue is permanently resolved,” he said.
The AIP president asked Sushma Swaraj to explain why dozens of kids like Omer Quaoom Soura were denied treatment in police custody which had resulted in death of few including Omer Qayoom.
He added that Kashmiris have a right to know from Sushma Swaraj that before trying to gain sympathy or providing visa to Pakistani children why is Omer Qayoom’s family being denied even registration of FIR of their beloved kid.
KV Correspondent
