U.K.-based Kashmiri groups protest rights violations in Pak.

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, FEB. 23. Four U.K.-based constituents of Pakistan's All Parties' National Alliance (APNA) have threatened to launch a Europe-wide campaign against suppression of civil liberties by Gen. Pervez Musharraf's military regime, following the arrest of several APNA leaders in Islamabad early this week.

In a letter to Gen. Musharraf, they have strongly protested the arrests and demanded their immediate release, saying the police action was in ``blatant disregard'' for the basic human rights of those fighting for an independent Kashmir comprising Gilgit and Baltistan.

``This stands in marked contrast to the claims of your administration that it wants a durable political solution of the Kashmir issue,'' the letter said adding that the people under the ``Pakistan-controlled'' Kashmir were being denied their basic right to express their political views.

The peace process in Jammu and Kashmir, the letter said, needed a ``positive impetus and input from your administration'' and this would be possible only if the rights of the people who were directly affected by the Kashmir problem were respected.

``We convey our warning to launch a Europe-wide campaign against this suppression of civil liberties and human rights in the territories of Kashmir under the control of your administration if the detentions continue,'' said the letter signed by representatives of the JKNLF (Europe and U.K. Zone), JKLF( Europe and U.K. Zone), JKPNP and JK Plebiscite Front (Europe and U.K. Zone).

Later at a press conference, a JKLF spokesman said the APNA activists were arrested when they were leading peaceful march to the UN office in Islamabad to give a petition on the human rights situation in Gilgit.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : Toll in clashes touches 140