In an unprecedented snub to Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani, Pakistan’s Special Committee of the Parliament on Kashmir said that questioning the recent peace initiative between India and Pakistan “would only serve the cause of Hindutva regime.”
The statement came in response to a letter written by Geelani which was released by his Pakistan-based representative Saiyyed Abdullah Gilani.
The Kashmir Committee made a strong response to the letter and said doubting the recent reiteration of ceasefire agreement were serving “the cause of Hindutva regime”.
“No one can ever betray Kashmir cause. The ceasefire agreement is a bid to help save Kashmiris living on both sides of the LoC. Anyone dubbing it a sellout would only serve the cause of Hindutva regime. Period,” the committee, headed by Shehryar Afridi, wrote on Twitter after a user tweeted a copy of the letter. The tweet was issued from the committee’s verified Twitter account.
As per the letter issued by Geelani, the recent pact between India and Pakistan was described as “disturbing as it is surprising.”
The letter also took a strong objection to Pakistan not mentioning New Delhi’s unilateral decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir’s limited-autonomy on 5 August 2019. “Ever since India’s brazen aggression on August 5 2019, we have been hearing assurance after assurance that there would be no engagement with India until it rolls back everything it did on August 5,” the letter states. “May one ask why this contradiction between the stated policy and action?”
The peace between India and Pakistan would not stop bloodshed and New Delhi’s impositions upon Kashmir, they said in the letter. “The pact therefore does not reflect the interests of Kashmiri people.”
On 24 February, the Indian and Pakistani armies’ Director Generals of Military Operations announced a peace initiative. The move has come just a month after the Joe Biden administration took charge of the United States of America. Observers have speculated US pressure as having brought the two south Asian nations on the table.