PARIS (Kashmir English): President of the International Kashmir Peace Forum (IKPF) France, Zahid Iqbal Hashmi, has welcomed the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s decision regarding local government representatives.
In a statement, Zahid Iqbal Hashmi said that the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has restored the 1990 Local Government Act to its original form, marking a historic decision.
Failure of Azad Kashmir government
He criticized the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government’s failure to provide funds to Local Government representatives and instead allocating those funds to assembly members, calling it a complete injustice to local representatives.
The court’s decision in favour of local councilors has ensured that they receive their rightful funds. He said that since the local body elections, the government of Azad Kashmir had failed to devolve development powers to the grassroots level, severely affecting local development projects.
He emphasized that the High Court’s ruling is entirely based on facts and aligns with the 1990 Act.
The government had unfairly deprived local representatives of their rightful powers, he added.
He said while members of the legislative assembly are responsible for lawmaking, local representatives are elected by the people to oversee grassroots development.
This is why, in democratic nations, powers are fully transferred to the local level, he urged. He urged the Azad Kashmir government to comply with the High Court’s order and ensure the immediate release of funds to elected local representatives so that development work at the grassroots level could commence without further delay.
