A senior opposition leader of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) said yesterday that no organisation in his state would attack the Indian parliament and he was convinced the attack that killed 15 people was the handiwork of the Indian authorities.

Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, a former prime minister of the state and president of the Pakistan People's Party in the AJK, who was on a three-day visit to the UAE, told Gulf News: "I would like to state that not a single organisation in Azad Kashmir would ever think of attacking the Indian parliament."

"Such a move would backfire on their own cause and hamper their own freedom movement. It will not serve their real cause for which they have been fighting for so long," he added.

"There is no doubt that the act was carried out by India," he alleged.

"India is quite aware that the international community, once it is finished with its agenda in Afghanistan, will definitely focus its attention on what is happening in Indian-administered Kashmir. The Indian government, therefore, without losing any time attacked their own parliament, in order to portray a negative picture of Kashmir."

According to Chaudhry, the tension between the two neighbouring countries has risen to an all-time high this week.

"The tension was always there. But I do not believe both countries will go to war," he said, calling on the international community to "play a leading role".

"I would really appreciate it if there was third-party mediation. This is because if one looked at the history of Indo-Pakistan relationship, it is clearly evident that both countries have never achieved anything bilaterally," he said.

To a query on Jihadi elements giving a bad reputation to the Kashmiri movement, Chaudhry insisted: "Jihadis are an indigenous movement. There is no outside involvement."

Apprehensive of a proposal that Kashmir have open borders with Pakistan and India, he said: "It can only work out if both countries agree to issue visas to Kashmiri families who have been living a divided life for years.

"If this exercise goes well, then there is hope for the implementation of such a proposal. But someone has to begin. There are several families whose members are scattered between AJK and Indian Kashmir," he pointed out.

Asked whether there is any possibility of Osama bin Laden sneaking into Indian Kashmir, Chaudhry said: "I do not think so. If Osama bin Laden cannot enter Pakistan, how can he go to Indian-administered Kashmir?"