During the ongoing Pakistan Literature Festival at the five-star Hotel Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-occupied Jammu Kashmir (POJK), prominent Pakistani journalists Hamid Mir and Wasatullah engaged in a discussion about the Kashmir issue. Among the attendees were students from Jamia Kashmir, who passionately expressed their views. The venue reverberated with slogans like “Kashmir will attain independence, this country belongs to us, we will govern it, and we will determine its future”.
Observing the atmosphere following the slogans, Hamid Mir and Vasatullah decided to step down from the stage at the Pakistan Literature Festival. Hamid Mir stated that if the youth chanting slogans had a specific agenda, then they would leave. He further questioned why the Kashmir issue had not been resolved in the past 75 years if emotional slogans alone were sufficient to free Kashmir. In response, the youths asserted that no Pakistani should visit their homeland and speak in favor of Pakistan. They vowed to respond strongly if anyone dared to do so. Subsequently, Muzaffarabad journalists Wahid Iqbal Butt and Tariq Naqash acted as mediators and facilitated a resolution, allowing the two Pakistani journalists to resume their conversation.
On the other hand, the students who raised slogans expressed their belief that the Kashmiris themselves are the true stakeholders in the Kashmir issue. They expressed frustration over their repeated unanswered questions and the lack of opportunity to voice their opinions. However, as soon as some of the youths began discussing the possibility of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan within a pro-Pakistan narrative, they were met with slogans against Pakistan and in support of the freedom of Jammu and Kashmir. This disrupted the event, and the youths chanting slogans made it clear that Pakistan was not their friend but their enemy, and they desired immediate independence from Pakistan. The passionate slogans deeply shocked Pakistani intellectuals and those who supported Pakistan, as the sloganeers openly expressed their strong resentment and hostility towards Pakistan.