Muzaffarabad (POJK), Sep 30 (NVI) Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan continued to be on the boil today as locals held protests and demonstrations on the second day of their agitation against the Pakistani regime.
The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which is spearheading the agitation launched yesterday, tonight gave a call for ‘long march to Muzaffarabad’, implying that people from all parts of the Pakistan-occupied territories should converge in the capital of POJK.
When the ‘campaign for rights’ agitation began yesterday, one young Kashmiri was shot dead and over 25 others sustained bullet injuries when Pakistani forces fired directly at the protesters.
This use of brutal force by the Pakistani military led to further anger among the Kashmiris, who chanted slogans against the Pakistani State and its institutions, calling them “terrorists” and asking them to leave the occupied territories of Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan.
During the agitation today, lakhs of people participated in protests, whose main centres were Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Kotli and Mirpur.
Addressing the mass gatherings, the leaders of the Awami Committee spoke about the 78 years of oppression, neglect and brutalities carried out by Pakistani forces on the people of the occupied Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan.
They declared that the patience of Kashmiris in Pakistan-occupied territories was over and they were now ready to fight for the liberation.
JAAC leader Shaukat Nawaz said though Pakistan has named occupied Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Azad Kashmir’ (Independent Kashmir), there is no freedom in any part of the territories.
He said the people of the occupied territories have only suffered under the Pakistani State and now want the real freedom.
Nawaz said while their protest was non-violent, the Pakistani agencies were making all efforts to create trouble and violence.
As part of the protest, the Kohla point of entry into POJK from Pakistan was blocked by the locals by placing huge boulders and containers.
At some places, locals lay down on the ground to prevent Pakistanis from entering.
“It is like a storm,” said a local from Muzaffarabad while giving sense of the protests.
He said the Kashmiris are angry because Pakistan has been denying them even the basic rights.
Venting anger at the Pakistani regime and its military after firing on protesters last night, Shaukat Nawaz said, “It has been proven this time that the (Pakistani) State is a terrorist, its rulers are terrorists, its institutions are terrorists. The entire world saw their real face today.’
Pakistan has imposed an information blackout and shut down the Internet, which has severely hampered communication.
Nawaz said the mainstream Pakistani media was spreading lies regarding the agitation.
He said the agitation had been launched under compulsion because the Pakistani regime was in no mood to listen to the grievances of the people of occupied territories of J&K and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The people of PoJK have several serious grievances, particularly regarding efforts by Pakistan to change demography and character of occupied Jammu Kashmir Gilgit and Baltistan besides looting of the region’s resources and denial of their rights.
They have 38 demands, which include abolition of 12 seats in POJK Assembly reserved ostensibly for Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan.
The local Kashmiris say these seats go to the puppets of the Pakistani regime and that, in turn, affects decision-making by the Assembly against the interests of the locals.
Their demands also include implementation of reforms promised last year; renegotiation of hydropower rates so that locals benefit; strengthening of local governance/accountability; and assortment of political-administrative fixes.
They also want subsidised flour for PoK and reduction of power tariffs by linking these to the cost of generation done locally from Mangla Dam.
The locals say that electricity generated from Mangla Dam in POJK should be provided to the local population at the cost at which the generation takes place, instead of the high rates extracted by the Pakistani regime.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, the locals are decrying the taxes collected by the Pakistani regime from them. They say it is against even the Constitution of Pakistan. (NVI)
