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| Why is Asma Jahangir visiting J&K? | | Pak activist meets Mehbooba; PM assures to check matter | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Mar 5
Serious questions have cropped up on the nature and purpose of visit and also the authority which permitted as leading Pakistani lawyer and human rights activists Asma Jahangir is arriving in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asma, who is also chairperson of the Pakistan Human Rights Commissioner, is likely to be here tomorrow or day after. It is learnt that she is coming here as repporteur of the United Nations. Her visit to Jammu and Kashmir in capacity of a UN representative can have very serious repercussions as Pakistan many not allow reciprocal visit of any Indian citizen carrying UN mandate to any part of Pakistan including its occupied Kashmir.
Even though the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has feigned ignorance of the matter and assured to look into the nature of travel permission, the visiting Pakistan activist today called on the Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti in New Delhi and apprised her of the visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue rocked the Parliament today and Prime Minister said that he was not aware of the nature of visit of Asma Jahangir. He, however, assured to look into the matter and inform the Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha was stunned when senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh claimed that Asma Jehangir had been allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir as a United Nations rapporteur and questioned the clearance for it. Responding to the matter raised in Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was not aware of the facts of the matter and would look into it.
The BJP leader said the government had cleared Asma's visit without informing Parliament and said it would set a 'bad precedent'. "Are we seeking reciprocal arrangements from Pakistan government for such visits by Indian human rights activists," Jaswant Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House said.
He also sought to draw the government's attention to reported utterances made during Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah's meeting at a congregation organised in Lahore by Markaz Dawa, which is the parent body of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. At the meeting, the Markaz chief had said that Jehad against Indian would end only when Muslims ruled the country, the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, Asma Jahangir today called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti in New Delhi to get a feel of the prevailing political and security situation in the State.
According to a party statement, in her interaction with Ms Jahangir, the PDP President said the peace process between India and Pakistan has provided a space for the amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue and both the countries must seize the moment to resolve this problem for good. She said the civil society in both the countries has played a crucial role in strengthening the peace initiatives by mobilizing strong public opinion in support of these initiatives. She said the leadership of the two countries must not only consolidate the confidence building process, but expand it further to broaden its base.
Mufti said the biggest contribution of the peace and the confidence building process is that it has helped in building a favorable public mood in support of the peaceful resolution of the contentious issues confronting the two countries. "I think the time has come when both the countries must address the Kashmir issue with political will and move ahead on the path of prosperity to reap the benefits of globalization and economic liberalization sweeping the region," she said and added that the people of both the countries in general and Jammu & Kashmir in particular have suffered immensely because of the Indo-Pak hostility and they must now use all their political resources to come out of this vicious circle of violence for the larger good of their people. |
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