Yasin Malik pledges to fight for the independence cause till his last breath

Dudley, 9th July, 2000

JKLF Leader and senior APHC executive member, Mohammed Yasin Malik, urged Kashmiri expatriots to unite under the JKLF banner and double their efforts on the diplomatic front for a speedy resolution to the longstanding issue of self-determination. He underlined the crucial role of the JKLF members and said that it was due to pressure and efforts from them that he was released from prison. He was speaking by phone to the Working Committee Meeting of the UK body, which met in the midland's town of Dudley today. In his first ever telephonic address to the JKLF members he urged them to 'forget the petty differences of party politics' and ensure that the Kashmiri message went out to the world that there was no room for Indian or anyone else's constitution in Jammu-Kashmir. He reinstated his position regarding the much-talked about Indian offer of talks and said that he wanted a peaceful resolution of the dispute but 'not at the cost of freedom for our people'. He said his mission was that of the Shaheed Maqbool Butt and no one in Kashmir be allowed to betray the dream of the martyrs. He told his members to respect the rights of all minorities in Jammu-Kashmir. "No one should misunderstand us when we talk about independence for Kashmir we mean independence for all our people in the 84,000 square miles of our motherland". He regretted that he was not able to function to the best of his abilities because of his health but declared that his last breath was for the good of his nation and he would not let his people down.

Yasin Malik also outlined the APHC policy regarding the issue of 'autonomy' and 'talks' and said that the APHC was a coalition of many schools of thought and while everyone had the right to express an opinion from their party viewpoint there was no disagreement on the strategy to take the fight forward to its logical conclusion and those who were keen on highlighting any differences could not be called friends.

The JKLF_UK Working Committee members urged Yasin Malik to postpone his program for hunger strike in New Delhi to protest against Indian security forces' excesses against unarmed civilians. They also urged him to make sure that the APHC carried the voice of the minority communities in Jammu_Kashmir and the right of self-determination for the people of 'Azad-Kashmir including Gilgit/Baltistan territories was not overlooked in anyway. JKLF leaders in the UK appealed to the APHC through Yasin Malik to take on board all concerned Kashmiris for the good of the movement and to accommodate them in the APHC and not let the APHC become a tool for any outside interests.

The JKLF leaders in UK paid rich tribute to Kashmiri martyrs and those languishing in Indian prisons and pledged to work hard to realise their dream for a re-unified independent homeland. The Working Committee took various decisions on the workings and strategic planning for the next year. For the first time in its history four JKLF members in the UK who had recently won local council elections on various party platforms spoke at the meeting and renewed their commitment for the cause of Kashmir and said that they would rise above party politics to work together for the independence movement. They included Councillor Mohammed Nazam Bhatti (Justice), Councillor Masoom Ansari (Lib Dem), Councillor Sadique Qazi (Conservative) and Councillor Zulfiqar Ali (Leb Dem). The meeting was presided over by JKLF UK president Shabir Choudhry and conducted by its Secretary General Azmat A Khan. Speakers at the meeting amongst many others included former JKLF president Mohammed Younis, press secretary Saghir Ahmed and ther executive members. Barrister Majeed Tramboo (London) and Liaqat Ali (Luton) were elected to the vacant seats for the UK Central Committee. Ends