Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has kicked up a fresh row amid the simmering tensions in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, saying that he considers the protesters there to be Pakistan’s enemies like India. Asif’s remarks come amid a spate of civilian killings in PoK’s Rawalakot area over the last few days.
At least 40 people, including 34 civilians and six security personnel, have been killed in PoK in the latest cycle of violence, according to the Amnesty International.
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A video of Asif’s statement has been making rounds on social media as an interviewer is asking him if Islamabad would be engaging in negotiations with the protesters in PoK. To this, Asif bluntly responds and says that there will be no talks with the protesters as he counts them among Pakistan’s “enemies like India”
“I put the protesters of Azad Kashmir in the same category as India and consider them also as enemies like India,” the Pakistani minister can be heard saying in the video.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video
Protests in PoK
Parts of PoK have been on the edge over the constitutional assembly election that began on Monday and will continue through August 10 in phases.
The protest has overshadowed the election as residents reported low voter turnout in Monday’s first phase, when polling was held for several assembly seats in the city of Mirpur, the Associated Press reported.
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At a news conference in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, government spokesman Mohammad Rashid Hanif alleged that the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC, sought to derail the elections. He said a “significant number” of Fitna al-Khawarij, the term Islamabad uses for members of the Pakistani Taliban, were also among the protesters.
Later on Tuesday at a news conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said the ongoing sit-in was no longer a peaceful protest, alleging that armed militants had joined the demonstrators and posed a threat to public order. They said authorities would soon take action to restore order and ensure conditions for a free, fair and peaceful vote.
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Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an independent and transparent probe into reports of the use of lethal force against protesters in PoK. It also urged Islamabad to restore communication services and allow media and independent observers access to the region.
In a statement, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia, Isabelle Lassee, reacted to the security forces using lethal force against protesters in Rawalakot during the first day of the regional election.
“The disturbing reports emerging from Rawalakot are consistent with the Pakistani authorities’ long history of unlawful violence against protesters in Jammu and Kashmir. A prompt, independent, and transparent investigation must be ordered into the security forces’ use of force against protesters,” Lassee said.
Amnesty also raised concerns over the ban imposed on the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), stating that tensions surrounding the election had been heightened by the move.
“Tensions around this election are being heightened by the unlawful ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Pakistani authorities to lift the ban on this protest movement and stop weaponising anti-terror laws to silence and arbitrarily detain JAAC members and supporters,” Lassee said.
“The ban cannot be used as an excuse to mete out deadly violence against protesters,” she added.
According to Amnesty’s statement, reports on July 27 indicated violence in Rawalakot and one incident in Kotli, where a political worker was killed during a clash between supporters of rival parties.
With inputs from agencies