Karachi: The enlightened among the Pakistani population feel that the current regime in Islamabad has sold out Kashmir to India in order to appease the US.

Such views were put across at a seminar titled "The Solution for Kashmir: the American agenda and the Future of the Muslims in the Sub-continent", held in Karachi on June 1, organised by Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

According to a report in 'The News', one of the speakers was of the opinion that a unified Caliphate system of governance was needed (in Pakistan) in order to combat the "external pressures".

The speakers, some of whom were journalists, said the US had been assisting India to ensure the latter's emergence as an economic power in the shape of a befitting reply to China.

Poet-journalist Shahnawaz Farooqi said, "One after the other, governments in Pakistan had sacrificed national interests for the sake of their whims and fancies. I fear Kashmir had been sold out, and the present-day junta's problem is how to execute the agenda.

"If the people do not resist, the sell-out cannot be avoided," he added.

Saad Abdullah, a Hizb member, stated, "Since 1991 the US is bringing major capital investment into India to let the country emerge as an economic giant, a counter-force to China."

According to him, relinquishing the Kashmir issue would cause more miseries, as "Pakistan would lose strategic heights, control over the waters, and trade routes." He pointed out that (after Kashmir is handed over to India) US marines would be based in the Kashmir valley after declaring the line of control (LoC) the permanent border.

Numair Aman, another Hizb member, believed that only the rule of the Caliphate, once established in Pakistan, could sustain all the external pressures. He particularly pointed out Pakistan's nuclear capability as the defence shield in case of any threat from the US, Israel, and India.

Haseeb-ur-Rehman, vice president of the Karachi Bar Association, ridiculed international law for being the means to serve the interests of only the USA. He pointed out the divergence in practice of international law under the US agenda.

Sajjad Mir, a senior journalist, said that the nation had been facing a crucial time when every American agenda casts its shadow on Pakistan, from Afghanistan to Iraq, and Iran to Kashmir. He warned of the US-Israel-India troika working hand-in-glove against Pakistan, 'The News' added.

ANI