ISLAMABAD: Minister for State for States and Frontier Regions and Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi Wednesday was elected as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir.
Shehryar Afridi has replaced Syed Fakhar Imam who was leading the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir since 2019.
The committee met here at the Parliament House to elect a new chairman. Malik Amir Dogar suggested that since Kashmir is an issue beyond political considerations, the opposition parties should support a unanimous candidate for the Chairman of the Committee.
Sanaullah Khan Mastokhel proposed the name of Shehryar Afridi for the committee’s top slot, saying that a ‘young’ parliamentarian would help raise the Kashmir issue at international forums with more vigour and force.
However, Khurram Dastagir and Mushahidullah Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) argued that they had not been consulted for the unanimous election of the committee chairman and boycotted the proceedings.
Later, the committee elected Shehryar Afridi as the new head of the committee. Addressing the participants of the committee, Afridi said all political parties speak with one voice on Kashmir issue and he would take all parties along.
Shehryar Afridi served as the Minister of State for Interior from 31 August 2018 to 18 April 2019.
