India must release all political prisoners in Kashmir — President Alvi

President Arif Alvi, second right, visited Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Pakistani Kashmir, on Tuesday morning, and addressed the special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. (Photo courtesy: Office of Prime Minister of Pakistani Kashmir)

• Urges neighbor to recognize the rights of the people in the Valley
• Pakistan remains committed to finding a just and peaceful solution to long-standing dispute, foreign minister says

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi urged India on Tuesday to immediately release all political prisoners in Kashmir, even as he pushed for those imprisoned to be extended their right to freedom of speech.
During his visit to Muzaffarabad — the capital city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir — President Alvi addressed a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly as part of the Kashmir Solidarity Day commemorations.
He also urged India to allow the Kashmiri leadership to travel abroad and present their viewpoints to the rest of the world; and to stop the use of firearms and pellet guns against civilians in the area.
President Alvi stressed that India should stop its ongoing “atrocities” and allow international observers to investigate human rights’ violations in the Valley, as well.
Mushtaq Minhas, the Minister for Information in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told Arab News that Dr. Alvi’s visit to Muzaffarabad was significant and showed that the Pakistani leadership fully supported the struggle of the Kashmiri people.
Meanwhile, Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ---- which is the media wing of Pakistan’s military --- said that decades of “atrocities” have failed to suppress the Kashmiri freedom struggle.
“Kashmir remains a long-pending unresolved issue on the UN agenda since 1948. Decades of atrocities by Indian Occupation Forces have failed to suppress ever strengthening legitimate freedom struggle. Determined Kashmiris shall succeed IA. #KashmirSolidarityDay,” he tweeted.
Kashmir Solidarity Day is an occasion which is marked across Pakistan on February 5 every year. This year, the government of Pakistan re-affirmed its “unflinching support” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for self-determination.