The Hindu : National : Mirwaiz plea

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Saturday, Oct 15, 2005

National

National

Mirwaiz plea

Staff Reporter

URI: The chairman of the moderate faction of the All-party Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Friday demanded that relief workers from Jammu and Kashmir should be allowed to go across the Line of Control to provide assistance to the earthquake affected people living in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Mirwaiz told The Hindu that "time is running out. We demand that relief workers from this side of the Line of Control should be allowed to go across the Line of Control. And this issue which is strictly humanitarian, the Pakistan political establishment should not have any objections to it and it should not delay this prcoess. Some areas in PoK, which have borne the brunt of the devastation, can be accessed from this side of the LoC in a few hours." There were many divided families living near the LoC which were anxious to know the whereabouts of their relatives in PoK. This issue should be strictly seen from a humanitarian perspective, he said.

Clarifying that he had not criticised anyone for not coming to the rescue of quake-affected families in the State, the Mirwaiz said, "We are satisfied with the response from outside the State. The Prime Minister has also done well in coming here." His extended family in PoK did not suffer any loss as the members were in Islamabad when the quake occurred. The Mirwaiz family is one of the few in Srinagar which has relatives living in Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

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