‘Gilgit Baltistan integral part of Kashmir’

Jammu and Kashmir does not belong only to Muslims; there are minorities too.

MA RAINA, Kashmir Voice International chairman

LONDON: A newly-formed organisation in Britain comprising individuals with origins in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday said Gilgit Baltistan is an integral part of the historical area of Jammu and Kashmir, and Pakistan’s recent move to integrate it as its fifth province amounted to a “U-turn”.

Kashmir Voice International (KVI), formed in January to highlight the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir to the West, expressed serious concern at Islamabad’s move and called it “derogatory to the spirit of freedom movement”.

M A Raina, KVI chairman, said the development signalled a U-turn in Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir. Pakistan on the one hand talked about UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, and on the other had moved to integrate a part of the state with itself, he added.

Raina said the future political status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir was yet to be determined, adding the state was not only the part held by India but included Pakistan-held Kashmir including Gilgit Baltistan.

KVI secretary Javid Kakroo said people of the state from both sides of the line of control would resist and fight against any move that separates Gilgit Baltistan from the rest of the state.

“Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. Kashmir is not a commodity to be played with by... India and Pakistan,” Kakroo said.