Pakistan’s opposition parties target Imran Khan for ‘sellout’ on Kashmir

Unable to fathom that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and that the dissolution of Article 370 is India’s internal matter, Pakistan’s opposition parties have now started accusing Imran Khan and his government of ‘sellout.’

According to Dawn, leaders from a number of opposition parties came together to denounce the manner in which the Pakistan government has worked since Article 370 was revoked by India to truly integrate Jammu and Kashmir. While the move promises to bring peace, prosperity and security to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has been – unsuccessfully – crying foul. And while Imran has been unable to garner any international support, he now faces pressure from within his own country. “The present situation gives rise to fears that it might have been decided in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with US President Donald Trump last month that Pakistan will keep silent if India decides to change the fate of Kashmir,” said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, adding that it was an international conspiracy of which the Pakistan government is a part of. “Our rules have stabbed Kashmiris in the back.”

While Pakistan’s biggest opposition parties – Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz – did not attend the meeting, the other parties together decided to march to Islamabad and ‘launch a movement which will end with the ouster of the government. The sense of desperation, helplessness and panic in Pakistan could well be summed up by what Rehman said next. “Today the strategic position of Kashmir has been changed. Yesterday we were thinking of how to get Srinagar, but today we are worried about how to protect Muzzafarabad (in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir).”

With a crumbling economy and a number of other challenges staring at Imran, the agitation from opposition parties could end up giving the Pakistani government a massive headache. Snubbed globally and targeted internally, the Imran government may well have its cracks woefully exposed.