New Delhi (NVI): A Kashmiri political activist has denounced ‘Azad Jammu & Kashmir Election Act’ that was passed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir assembly in May this year to hold elections in PoK, in brazen violations of the UN Security Council resolution on Kashmir.
Prof Sajjad Raja, Chairman, National Equality Party, JKGBL (Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan and Ladakh) has rejected the election Act that has been forcibly imposed by the Pakistan government on people of PoK.
“Azad Jammu & Kashmir Election Act (2020 LD/Legis-Act/275-86/2020; Dated 24 June 2020) is negation of the right of self determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and is a clear violation of the United Nations Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. Thus we denounce and reject it,” Prof Raja tweeted.
Azad Jammu & Kashmir Election Act (2020 LD/Legis-Act/275-86/2020; Dated 24 June 2020) is negation of the right of self determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and is a clear violation of the United Nations Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. Thus we denounce and reject it. pic.twitter.com/VVC4Ute55r
— Prof. Sajjad Raja (@NEP_JKGBL) August 28, 2020
Rattled by the revocation of Article 370 by the Indian government in August last year, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has been desperately trying to gain complete control on PoK which is a disputed territory.
India considers PoK and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.
Apart from PoK, the Pakistan Supreme court also allowed elections in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan in April this year, which faced a strong protest from India.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had lodged a strong protest over the order by Pakistan Supreme Court allowing the Imran Khan government to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan region.
On April 30, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed, had allowed the government to organise general elections in G-B, and to set up a caretaker government there before that.
India has objected to elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and in parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), which the Pakistan government refers to as “Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK)”.
