Parliament tells Pak to keep off Kashmir, condemns resolution on Afzal

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New Delhi, March 15: Parliament on Friday rejected Pakistan Assembly’s resolution on Afzal Guru and said that it amounts to interference in India’s internal affairs. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar moved the draft resolution in the House and while unanimously adopting the resolution said, "House rejects the interference into internal affairs of India. The entire J&K including the illegally occupied part of Kashmir is and shall always be an integral part of India." Lok Sabha also told Pakistan’s National Assembly to desist from acts of support for extremists and terrorist elements.

 

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said resolution was unanimously endorsed by the House. "These are not just strong words but honest words. Hope this will be understood in the right context across the border," said Khurshid.

However, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh said that Pakistan’s resolution was an immature decision and tit for tat is unnecessary. "We need not behave in a way that Pakistan does," said Jaswant.

There was an uproar not just in Parliament but in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly as well. In fact as a fallout of this controversy, India has also put on hold the upcoming hockey tours with Pakistan. The series was scheduled to be held from April 5 in India. India-Pakistan Hockey matches were also scheduled to be held in Pakistan from April 25 to May 5.

Earlier in the day, the BJP demanded that the government should end all dialogue with Pakistan in the wake of the resolution. BJP President Rajnath Singh said, "We must lodge a strong protest against Pakistan at the international level. We must scale down diplomatic efforts with Pakistan and suspend all confidence building measures. They have no meaning."

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said that the official statement came from the combined polity of Pakistan. "It is an official stamp of approval on the worst terrorist attack that took place in India. The polity condoned the action of sentencing. The beheading of our soldiers, bomb blasts in Mumbai and the attack in Srinagar. This clearly now shows Pakistan’s intentions," said Jaitley.

The BJP had also demanded that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister should explain their position on this issue. However, the Lok Sabha Speaker then assured the members that the government will respond to their concerns.

BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "The government is responsible for Srinagar attack. They should not have entered into talks with Pakistan without eradicating terror as an issue. Had the Prime Minister been firm, we wouldn’t be in this situation."

In its resolution passed on Thursday, Pakistani Parliament had condemned Afzal Guru’s execution and demanded that his body be returned to his family. Afzal was executed and buried in at Delhi’s Tihar Jail, triggering large protests in Kashmir. Khurshid, reacting to the resolution, had said that Pakistan has no jurisdiction over action taken by the Government of India against terror activities committed on Indian soil. "It’s a matter within the jurisdiction of India. It just seems that this unwholesome interest in something that is a sordid tale of terrorist activities on our country is not a very pleasant thing and I don’t think we should be reacting more than that. In their Assembly they should address matters of their country and they should let our Assembly address matters of our country," Khurshid said.

Full text of the resolution:

This House totally rejects the resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 14, 2013. The House notes that Pakistan has committed that it would not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India and only fulfillment of this statement can be the basis for peaceful relations with Pakistan.

The House rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements.

The House reiterates that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan is and shall always be an integral part of India. Any attempt from any quarter to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met with resolutely and with complete unity of our nation.