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Pakistan Literature Festival (PLF) held in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), journalist and columnist Wusat Ullah Khan highlighted the failure of Islamabad and New Delhi to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to their decades-long dispute over Kashmir.
Amid chants of ‘azadi’, Khan blamed the “conflict industry” working to keep the Kashmir issue alive for its own benefit. He said former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were part of this industry.
“This (Kashmir) issue goes beyond mere politics; it has become a thriving industry. The financial stability of the Kashmir Committee relies heavily on this industry.
This (Kashmir) issue goes beyond mere politics; it has become a thriving industry. The financial stability of the Kashmir Committee relies heavily on this industry, and the livelihoods of figures like Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and the entire political class of Azad Kashmir (PoK) are intertwined with its success,” he told the audience.
Notably, the Pakistan parliament has a dedicated committee on Kashmir with a mandate to coordinate all efforts to realize their goal of Kashmir’s integration into PoK. The committee mobilises funds, weapons and training for Islamic terror organisations to send their men across the border. It has often been subjected to scrutiny over misappropriation of funds.
The scribe further said that leaders of Farooq Abdullah, who heads the J&K National Conference, and Mehbooba Mufti, the chairperson of the J&K People’s Democratic Party (PDP), are thriving on the conflict industry and one should not expect them to find a workable solution.
“Given these circumstances, why would they take any actions that might jeopardize their own prospects? With government vehicles, subsidies and allowances at their disposal, they have little incentive to think outside the box or explore alternative solutions,” he said.
