Vote deposes Kashmir politician

By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Islamabad

Parliament in Pakistan-administered Kashmir has voted out the government after accusing it of mismanagement, a soft policy on India and corruption.

The deposed prime minister, Sardar Attique Khan, accused the Pakistani government of "conspiring" to oust him.

Mr Khan was elected PM of the Pakistani-controlled part of divided Kashmir less than three years ago.

The opposition said former President Pervez Musharraf had propped up Mr Khan as his proxy in Kashmir.

Plebiscite

During his address to parliament before the vote, Mr Khan denied all the accusations against him and said he had never sold out to India on the Kashmir cause.

But his opponent, Sardar Yaqoob, said Mr Khan's government supported Mr Musharraf's policy of abandoning the long-standing Pakistani demand that the people of Kashmir should decide through a plebiscite whether they wanted to join India or Pakistan.

Since 1989, there has been an armed separatist movement in Indian-administered Kashmir.

India has blamed militants based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir of fuelling this insurgency.

In 2004, the Musharraf government started a "composite dialogue" with India with a view to promoting bilateral trade and softening the borders.

The dialogue led to the lowering of military tension across the Line of Control - the de facto border.

It also led to the opening of some travel and trade between the two parts of Kashmir.

Some sections of Pakistani and Kashmiri society have been opposed to this policy of conciliation, saying it amounts to accepting Indian "hegemony" in the region.