Islamabad: The two factions of the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front based in India and Pakistan on Thursday
announced they had completed their merger, and would work
together on issues like a campaign to halt the execution of
terror convict Afzal Guru.
The process for reuniting the factions began on August 12
with a meeting of their leaders, Amanullah Khan and Yasin
Malik, in Rawalpindi.
The factions formed a special committee to oversee the
merger and this body finalised the process on September 18,
JKLF leader Muhammad Rafiq Dar said.
The JKLF, which was formed to wage an armed struggle,
split into two factions in 1995 after Malik publicly renounced
violence.
Dar and Amanullah Khan told a news conference at the Press
Club here that leaders of the JKLF in both parts of Kashmir
will now jointly work on issues, including moves to highlight
alleged human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir and the "Save
Afzal Guru Campaign" launched by Malik.
Guru, a Kashmiri who was convicted for conspiracy in the
December 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament, was
sentenced to death in 2004.
He is currently on death row and parties like the BJP have
been pressing the government to carry out his execution.
During the news conference, Dar said Amanullah, who
founded the JKLF in 1977, would be the "lifetime supreme head"
of the organisation.
Malik would be the chairman of the JKLF till a supreme
council is formed and a central convention is held to give
shape to the future plans of the organisation.
Malik will run the organisation with a 19-member committee
comprising representatives from Jammu and Kashmir, PoK and
abroad. Another committee will be formed to "reframe" the
constitution of the JKLF, Dar said.
A statement issued by the JKLF indicated that Malik would
play a key role in the organisation`s affairs with the ageing
Amanullah largely acting as a nominal "symbol of unity" for
the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and
Gilgit-Baltistan.
PTI
