OIC's apathy deplored

Bureau Report, DAWN, Wednesday 5 June 2002, 23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1423

PESHAWAR, June 4: The NWFP president of the Pakistan Muslim League (QA), Salim Saifullah Khan, has deplored the silence of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) over the grave situation Pakistan was faced with in the wake of Indian war threats.

In a statement, issued here on Tuesday, he called upon the government to immediately call for an extraordinary meeting of the OIC to deal with the situation.

On the pretext of war against terrorism, Mr Khan said, Indiaand some other countries were denying the Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination for which they had been struggling for the more than five decades.

Their just struggle was well known to the world community through numerous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, he said, adding that the freedom struggle in Kashmir was indigenous and Pakistan did not indulge in cross-border terrorism as alleged by India.

He said Pakistan did not want war and wished to settle all its disputes with India through peaceful negotiations, but at the same time it had the right to safeguard its sovereignty through all available means.