Lost Srinagar, now we have to save PoK: Pakistan opposition against Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan | AFP

With international support slowly waning for Pakistan, cracks have started appearing in the country's civilian political sphere. On Tuesday, opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardarislammed Prime Minister Imran Khan for his "complete failure" on handling the Kashmir issue, saying that earlier Pakistan's policy was how to take Srinagar from India, but now the concern is how to save Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

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Addressing media persons in Rawalpindi on Monday, Bilawal, the son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said Pakistan "lost Kashmir" due to the incompetency of the Khan government.

"Earlier, Pakistan's policy used to be how to take Srinagar from India. However, now due to the failure of Imran Khan government, the position is how we can save Muzaffarabad," the Pakistan Peoples Party chairman said.

Bilawal said Prime Minister Khan knew that scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status was in BJP's election manifesto, but he did not take any action on this earlier.

With Pakistan failing to get traction for its belligerent stand on Kashmir, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that he will raise the issue at every international forum, including at the UN General Assembly.

In a recent address to Pakistan on the Kashmir issue after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, Khan assured the people of Pakistan that his government will stand by the Kashmiris till India lifts the restrictions in the Valley.

Outlining his government's future strategy on Kashmir, Khan said: "First, I believe, the entire nation should stand with the Kashmiri nation. I have said this that I will act as Kashmir's ambassador."

"I will tell the world about this, I have shared this with heads of state that I have been in contact with. I will raise this issue at the UN as well," he said while referring to his scheduled address to the UN General Assembly next month.

"This is a strategic blunder. The government does not have any excuse," Bilawal Zardari told reporters outside the Adiala Jail, where his father and former president Asif Ali Zardari is lodged in connection with a corruption case.

"When it comes to opposition, Khan projects himself as lion, but in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi he is timid and becomes scaredy-cat," he added.

He said no other Pakistani government has failed so badly as the Khan government has.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, evoking strong reactions from Pakistan.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.

-Inputs from PTI

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