Joint session of the parliament resumed on Tuesday after government agreed to amend the resolution regarding Indian actions in occupied Kashmir.All the political leadership and nation in the country were on the same page as far as Kashmir dispute is concerned.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was absent from the parliament when session began in the morning, also arrived to deliver a policy statement.
The prime minister, in his address, said that his government's priority was to improve relations with all Pakistan's neighbours because it was vital to improve the country's economic situation.
"This session is not only important for the Kashmiri people and the Pakistani people, it will have repercussions around the world. That is why I request all to listen carefully," he began.
"When we took up government (of Pakistan), our main priority was to address poverty in our country. We reached out to all our neighbours, because without having a semblance of normalcy in ties, we cannot attain stability and alleviate poverty.
"All my trips to neighbouring countries were meant for this purpose. I visited Afghanistan, and asked them that we work to address our past differences. I talked to India, telling them if you take one step towards us, we will come two step towards you. I went to Iran [with similar aims] and I visited America.
"When I first reached out to India, they expressed concerns that there were militant outfits operating from Pakistan. I told [Narendra] Modi that after the grave and painful tragedy of the Army Public School massacre, all our political parties had resolved to never let the territory of Pakistan be used for terrorist activities. But I got the feeling that the Indian side was not serious about talks. When we went to Bishkek, my suspicions regarding their unwillingness to speak was strengthened."
"I soon realised that India was not interested in talking to us," the premier told the parliament. "They took our overtures for peace as weakness, so we stopped extending offers to hold talks.
"Then Pulwama happened. Thank God our air force responded in the way it did. We shot down their pilot, but returned him immediately to send the message that we did not want war. We resolved that we would not move forward on talks over Kashmir till after the [Indian] elections. The elections happened.
"What happened yesterday has only confirmed my suspicion [about India's unwillingness to talk]. This is not a decision they [the BJP] have taken out of the blue. It was part of their election manifesto all along. It is, in fact, ingrained in their ideology that puts Hindus above all other religions and seeks to establish a state that represses all other religious groups."
The joint session of upper and lower houses was summoned by President Arif Alvi yesterday to decide Pakistan's future course of action in the wake of India's decision to strip occupied Kashmir of its special status under Article 370. But the session was disrupted soon after beginning by protest from opposition lawmakers who pointed out that the resolution, moved by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati condemning India's "illegal actions" in occupied Kashmir, did not specifically mention Article 370 of the Indian constitution.
Opposition protested because govt resolution didn't mention Article 370
After the session's adjournment , PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal spoke to reporters outside parliament building and said that the opposition had protested "with a heavy heart" because the resolution presented by the government did not mention the reason due to which the session had been called: the scrapping of Article 370.
"All international laws recognise the border that separates Indian-occupied Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir as Line of Control. India tried to convert Line of Control into an international border, which is not a trivial matter.
"India took such a major step and the resolution does not even mention it; this is why opposition protested today," the PML-N leader said. He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan was not in attendance even though the opposition had chosen to forgo the matter of non-issuance of production orders [for arrested MNAs] to show unity and discuss the Kashmir issue.
He further said the the foreign minister, who is currently out of the country, should have returned by a chartered plane to brief the parliament on the situation even if it was for a day.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan also addressed opposition's protest in a conversation with media outside Parliament House and said: "We respect the opposition's wishes and will make the additions they are calling for because no controversy should be created on a resolution supporting the rights of Kashmiris."
"Kashmiris are looking towards Pakistan in this time of dire need," she added. "We would like them to know that they are not alone; Pakistan will continue its diplomatic support for their cause and raise the matter on all relevant forums.
"We are looking to raise the matter in the United Nations and ask the forum to look into India's violation of their conventions."
Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry called upon the political leadership to "stop fighting on trivial issues" and focus on the situation at hand.
"Modi government is trying to make Kashmir another Palestine by changing the population demography and bringing settlers into Kashmir. Parliamentarians must stop fighting on trivial issues; lets respond [to] India by blood, tears, toil and sweat, we must be ready to fight if war is imposed," he said in a tweet.
'Kashmir was and will remain disputed'
Meanwhile, Sharif met Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in his chamber and said that Pakistan will continue to stand alongside Kashmiris.
"No matter what India does, Kashmir was and will remain disputed [territory]," Sharif said. He also expressed concern over the health of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik.
Haider briefed Sharif about the situation in AJK and said that the Indian forces had been targeting civilians by using cluster bombs from across LoC.
"If [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi thinks Kashmiris will give up their right to self-determination, he is mistaken," Haider said.
Parliament joint session
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Sharif, PML-N leaders Khawaja Asif and Ayaz Sadiq among other MNAs as well as senators were in attendance. AJK premier was also attending today's session.
Opposition parties had demanded that a joint session be convened soon after media broke the news of India's decision to repeal Article 370. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was the first opposition leader who had called for immediately summoning the joint session of parliament. He then flew to Islamabad from Karachi to participate in the joint session.
“This House may discuss the recent surge in unprovoked firing and shelling on civilian population and use of cluster bombs by Indian forces in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; deployment of additional troops and atrocities in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and recent developments,” said the agenda issued yesterday by the National Assembly Secretariat for the joint sitting.
Meanwhile, a Corps Commander meeting under the chairmanship of Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was held in Rawalpindi to discuss the deteriorating situation in occupied Kashmir and the Indian aggression along the Line of Control.
India's presidential order
Yesterday, India's ruling BJP stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order. An indefinite curfew — that has entered its second day — was imposed in occupied Kashmir and elected leaders were put under house arrest.
By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire property in IoK and settle there permanently. Kashmiris as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
Furthermore, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also president of the BJP, moved a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories — one, Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and the other, Ladakh — to be directly ruled by New Delhi.
