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JKLF Condemns Pakistan Government for stopping Long March

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front-JKLF- in Britain has strongly condemned the actions by Pakistani and Azad Kashmir governments for not allowing the JKLF Long march to cross the Kashmir-Pakistan border near the Pak-Pattan bridge.

In a statement issued from London, Head of the JKLF Diplomatic Committee Prof. Zafar Khan said that yesterdays curtails on the JKLF Long March by Pakistan clearly shows Pakistan's intolerant behaviour towards Kashmiris genuine aspirations of a political settlement of Kashmir dispute. He said that such undemocratic tactics will not make Kashmiris retract from their demand of revocation of Gilgit-Baltistan ordinance.

Convoys from all over Azad Jammu Kashmir, started moving towards Islamabadon Thursday morning to protest Pakistan's recent move to give province-like status to Gilgit-Baltistan. The people in the march numbered from 18,000 to 20,000 were forcibly stopped at Pak-Patan, the border of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan, where police erected hurdles on the roads, preventing the protestors marching towards Islamabad. There were a complete standoff between protestors and Pakistan forces till late night.

Zafar Khan said that Kashmiri people on both sides of LoC and in Diaspora have genuine concerns about Pakistan's move to give Gilgit-Baltistan a provincial like status especially since the region was not part of Pakistan but an integral part of the state of Jammu Kashmir whose constitutional and political future status is yet to be decided according the United Nations resolutions. He further said that JKLF rejected the 29th of August 2009 package as it considers it detrimental to the fundamental political stance of the Kashmiris on the Kashmir issue.

Prof. Zafar Khan demanded that the region of Gilgit Baltistan to be reunited with Azad Jammu Kashmir to form a unified sovereign and democratic state headed by a revolutionary government having two autonomous provinces of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan governed not by Islamabad through a Pakistani Governor but by President, Prime Minister and a Legislative Assembly directly elected by the people of both regions of Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

JKLF has asked the brave people of Kashmir to remain steadfast in this patriotic stance.

Zafar Sharif, Secretary Diplomatic Committee JKLF