MOST Pakistanis must have been shocked to read the statement by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of JUIF (Dec 30), in which he has been quoted as saying that if we talk of right to self-determination for the people of Kashmir, then why not for Fata? Maulana, who heads the parliament committee on Kashmir, must surely be aware of the fact that the tribal areas, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) had willingly accessed to Pakistan.

On the other hand, India forcibly occupied Kashmir, which is recognised as a disputed territory by the UN. Besides, there are several resolutions by the Security Council under which Pakistan and India both agreed to let the people of Kashmir decide their future through a plebiscite.

Compared to this, Fata has never been a disputed area since our independence. For his petty political gains in Fata, the maulana has, regretfully, harmed Pakistan`s principled stand on Kashmir. The government should take serious action on this issue.

This also calls for the appointment of another parliamentarian to head the Kashmir committee, who should be fully committed and focused on promoting Kashmir`s freedom movement through aggressive diplomatic initiatives without havingalocalpoliticalagenda.

B. Malik Lahore