Kashmir finds limited representation in party manifestos ahead of Pak polls

pak-election-ap Flags of political parties are on sale ahead of elections, in Peshawar, Pakistan | AP

Once again, Kashmir has found no mention in election rallies in Pakistan and major political parties have briefly touched upon the issue in their election manifestos.

The Pakistan Mulsim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) of disqualified three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz has been convicted in the Avenfield case that began with the Panama Leaks, says in its election manifesto, ''Through talks relations with India will be strengthened. The issue of Kashmir will be resolved without compromising the moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of Indian occupied Kashmir.''

There is no mention of settling the Kashmir issue as per UN resolutions which have been the traditional stand of Pakistan.

Under pressure from opposition and military, Sharif had mentioned slain Hizbul Mujahideen, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, in a UN General Assembly session in his speech in 2016. He had called him a martyr.

The move had irked India. This was for the first time that the name of a Kashmiri militant was mentioned in the UN. Sharif had often been criticised by a vast section of media in Pakistan for being soft on India on Kashmir.

At the moment he and his daughter are serving 10 years and seven years imprisonment, respectively, for failing to provide the money trail of the Avenfield Apartments in London. His party has appealed for stay on the sentence. The appeal will come up for hearing after elections.

The manifesto of Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan says the party will work on a blueprint towards resolving the Kashmir issue within the parameters of UNSC resolutions. It says, “For lasting peace within our own region, especially with our neighbour India, conflict resolution and the security route to cooperation is the most viable.”

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in its elections manifesto says, “The decades of political repression and the denial of the Kashmiri’s people’s inalienable right to self-determination as per the UN Resolutions are the root causes of the pervasive conflict in Indian occupied Kashmir. India has persistently sidestepped efforts to bring an end to the conflict through peaceful negotiations.”

The manifesto goes on to say that “PPP believes that there is no military solution to the Kashmir dispute. Our party’s policy stands firm in the belief that the rights of the Kashmiri people, as per the UN Resolution, must be safeguarded even as we push for resuming a constructive dialogue with New Delhi.”

Despite the talks of resolving the Kashmir issue through dialogue and UN resolution, it is widely believed that all three parties want to improve relations with India.

A peaceful relationship with India helps the civilian government to focus on governance and development. It also reduces the role of Pakistan military in determining Pakistan's foreign policy, especially towards India.

The President of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Sardar Masood Khan, on April 20, while addressing the Kashmir Self-determination Conference at Mirpur urged the political parties of Pakistan to comprehensively include the issue of Kashmir in their election manifestos.

The PTI, which has been a bitter critic of PML-N on Kashmir, will find it equally hard to push the case of Kashmir internationally, if it comes to power.