Lahore: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has strongly condemned the killing and injury of civilians in the firing incident in Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, urging the government to abandon the use of force and resolve the situation through dialogue.
In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Rehman said the loss of precious lives could have been avoided had the government accepted JI’s offer to mediate and opted for negotiations instead of confrontation.
He criticised the authorities, saying that while self-serving political arrangements were continuing in the name of elections in Azad Kashmir, the government was responding to protesters with bullets and force rather than engaging them in talks.
The JI chief said such short-sighted and oppressive decisions were effectively sabotaging the historic struggle for the freedom of Kashmir. He urged the rulers to abandon their rigid approach, change their course of action and immediately initiate dialogue to reach a peaceful and lasting resolution of the issue.