Minister for State for States and Frontier Regions and Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi was Wednesday elected as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir.
Afridi has replaced Syed Fakhar Imam, who was leading the committee since 2019.
The committee met here at the Parliament House to elect 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 top slot, saying that a young parliamentarian will help raise the Kashmir issue at international forums with more vigour and force.
However, Khurram Dastagir and Mushahidullah Khan of PML-N and Sherry Rehman of the PPP argued that they had not been consulted for unanimous election of the committee chairman and boycotted the proceedings.
Later, the committee elected Shehryar Afridi as new chairman.
Addressing the participants of the committee, Afridi said it is a privilege for him to raise the Kashmir issue as chairman of the committee. He vowed to take along all the political parties and said that all political parties must speak with one voice on Kashmir issue. He also thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan and all the members who reposed trust in him and said that he will make all-out efforts to come up to their expectations. Shehryar Afridi has served as minister of state for interior from August 31, 2018, to April 18, 2019. He has been a member of the National Assembly since August 2018.
