The revocation of Article 370 offered the brightest light of hope for people in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan ever since the occupation of their land by the Pakistani military in 1947, said Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, a political activist hailing from POK region.
“It has broken the chain of violence which started on October 22, 1947 and continued right up to 2019. Cross border infiltration, violence against Kashmiri Pandits, target killings, drug smuggling under the guise of independence movement all came to an abrupt halt on August 5, 2019 with the abrogation of Article 370,” activist Mirza said.
He believes that there is a significant decline in violence across the Valley, no protests on July 13 which was falsely hailed as a Kashmir Martyrs Day, the pending bloodshed that Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan predicted from the floor of the United Nations threatening a nuclear war between India and Pakistan – “all have proved to be hollow and disillusioned”.
“Women are enjoying equal rights for the first time in Kashmir and 400,000 war refugees from PoK living in shanty camps have been recognised as Indian citizens and JK domicile has been granted to them”, said Mirza.
“The abrogation of Article 370 is the beginning of the end of Pakistan sponsored jihadist violence in Kashmir,” he added.
However, Pakistan still continues to send terrorists from across the border. “She is still using its protege in the jihadist groups to issue provocative statements to the media. But the jihadi propaganda is falling on deaf ears since the element of fear cultivated among the population by the jihadi terrorists is waning fast,” Mirza said, adding that under the current regime in India, people of Kashmir have begun to return to a normal life.
“The people in GB and PoK are hopeful that soon they will also be reunited with the motherland and free from Pakistani occupation.” he said.
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