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Kashmir : Pak journalists’ visit |
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The Pakistani journalists visiting Jammu and Kashmir have been requested to help in ending the gun culture in the state. More than 2,500 Kashmiri Pandits from the valley, living in refugee camps in Jammu asked the journalists to play a constructive role in restoring peace in the state. The Pandits, including women and children received the journalists with smiles and garlands, but also recounted their tales of woe at the hands of terrorists. They said they want an end to the gun culture which has ruined Kashmiris irrespective of their faith.
Some of the internally displaced persons who met the Pakistani journalists said bluntly that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. An elderly migrant, Sarwanand Kaul, discounted the view of separatists that it was a freedom struggle. He asked the team of journalists to go around the state and see for themselves how beautiful it was. A woman broke down while narrating the circumstances in which they were forced to leave the valley. The migrants told the delegation members to highlight their plight in Pakistan.
One of the journalists visiting Jammu and Kashmir, Munizae Jahangir, said that Pakistan must give up Kashmir as a core issue. It should have democracy in a real sense if it has to walk along with the rest of the world towards progress. Jahangir, daughter of Human Rights activist, Asma Jahangir, said the Pakistani youth felt that the focus on Kashmir and the continuing conflict between the two countries would hamper the development of both India and Pakistan. Talking about atrocities against women in Pakistan, she said women’s rights are being crushed all over the world, but it is unfortunate that Pakistan has laws that discriminate against women.
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