Tag: PoK

Article 370 abrogation is brightest light of hope for PoK, Gilgit Baltistan: Activist
22Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Article 370 abrogation is brightest light of hope for PoK, Gilgit Baltistan: Activist

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 P
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Abrogation of Article 370: Dawn of a new era for Jammu and Kashmir
4Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Abrogation of Article 370: Dawn of a new era for Jammu and Kashmir

It is almost a year since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. It was this ‘special status’ that barred the Indian mainland as well as any foreigner from investing in the former state. Not only that, a cluster of privileged families freely ran the roost and created hereditary political lineage that was no different than the pre-Partition hereditary monarchy practiced in the state since the signing of the Amritsar Treaty between Maharaja of Jammu Gulab Singh and the East India Company at the end of the First Anglo-Sikh war in March 1846.The Amritsar Treaty signed on March 16, 1846, was the basis on which the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was established and which existed as an independent state for 101 years before Pakistan launched an unprovoked attack on the fa
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Pakistan’s information war campaign against India needs attention
30Jul By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Pakistan’s information war campaign against India needs attention

Pakistan’s vicious information war campaign against India has been triggered by three incidents: The Balakot attack of February 2019, the return of the BJP government in the May 2019 elections and the August 2019 revision of Article 370.Pakistan’s longstanding assumption that the nuclear equivalence guaranteed that India would not retaliate against terrorist attacks was demolished by Balakot. The return of the BJP government to Centre signaled that India would continue to follow a muscular policy for the next five years. The abrogation of Article 370 demolished the centerpiece of Pakistan’s nationalism — “Kashmir banega Pakistan” (Kashmir will be Pakistan) — and raised apprehensions about India’s plans for Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).These developments have forced Pakistan t
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Indian, Iranian diaspora hold protests in London against China’s expansionist policies
20Jul By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

Indian, Iranian diaspora hold protests in London against China’s expansionist policies

Indian diaspora and a group of demonstrators led by displaced Muslims of Iranian origin demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in London on July 12 against China’s expansionist policies and aggression at its border with India.The protestors were joined by a few activists from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. They demanded that China should free Hong Kong and stop exploiting resources in Gilgit Baltistan, the part of erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.The demonstrators also raised slogans of “Down with China” alleging it an occupier.“We are the victim of Chinese aggression as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through Gilgit Baltistan and over 6,000 Chinese army and engineers are present in PoK with an aim to expand CPEC project,” said Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, a political activi
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Experts decry proposed 14th amendment in so-called AJK Interim Act 1974 by Pakistan
20Jul By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia, Opinion

Experts decry proposed 14th amendment in so-called AJK Interim Act 1974 by Pakistan

Political activists and experts have condemned the proposed 14th amendment Bill to the 1974 Interim Constitution of so-called Azad Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) as it further restricts the freedom of expression and opinion among the people in the occupied territory, while strengthening the grip of the Pakistani state over the region even more.In a webinar organized by the Jammu Kashmir International People’s Alliance (JKIPA), Junaid Qureshi, the director of European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) said that Pakistan has over the years been duplicitously projecting itself as a strong votary of the now near-defunct 1948 UN Resolutions that specified a referendum in the entire erstwhile Princely State of J&K.“The reality, though, is that the onus of implementing the first stage
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Amendment in ‘Azad’ J-K’s Interim Constitution Act 1974 reeks of subjugation, occupation: EFSAS
8Jul By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Amendment in ‘Azad’ J-K’s Interim Constitution Act 1974 reeks of subjugation, occupation: EFSAS

An Amsterdam based think tank has said that the draft of the 14th Amendment Bill to the 1974 Interim Constitution of the Pakistan-occupied and the so-called ‘Free’ Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has served as a grim reminder of just how suppressed and occupied J&K actually is."It is not, however, the proposed 14th Amendment that would be responsible for bringing this situation about. The major credit for that would go to the 1974 Interim Constitution promulgated during the period when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan," European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) said."This so-called Constitution, among other things, spelt out the contours of the future relationship between the Pakistani State and Pakistan-occupied J&K, and the picture that it presented f
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People of PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan stand with Indian Army in fight against China, says activist
2Jul By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

People of PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan stand with Indian Army in fight against China, says activist

Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, a political activist from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), who is living in exile in Glasgow, has expressed anger over Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and has pledged to support the Indian Army.Mirza, who hails from Mirpur in PoK, said, "For 70 years, the people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan have been kept separate from India. India is facing a tough time because of China's aggression, which along with Pakistan and Nepal's Communist Party, are playing a dirty game. We will not remain silent and stand shoulder to shoulder with India".He added, "I personally will fight for India and wherever the blood of Indian Army personnel will be spilled, we will also fight against the enemy".After the violent clash between Indian ...
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Beijing’s China Pakistan Economic Corridor will be ‘trillion dollar blunder’, say experts
28Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Beijing’s China Pakistan Economic Corridor will be ‘trillion dollar blunder’, say experts

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of China's imperialistic and expansionist agenda under its Belt and Road Initiative, is set to become a "trillion-dollar blunder" project, say experts.According to a leading Israeli English daily, the CPEC, a collection of infrastructure projects currently under construction throughout Pakistan, was originally valued at $46 billion but is now estimated to be $87 billion and only a quarter of which have been completed.The CPEC was intended to modernize Pakistani infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects and special economic zones (SEZs). Plans originally called for a seaport, roads, railways, pipelines, dozens of factories and the largest airport in Pakista...
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Kashmiri activists express concern over proposed amendments in Interim Constitution of PoK
22Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Kashmiri activists express concern over proposed amendments in Interim Constitution of PoK

Kashmiri political activists have raised concerns over the proposed amendments in the Interim Constitution of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by the Pakistani establishment saying that the 'unjust' law will give all authorities to directly-appointed officers from Pakistan, instead of the elected representatives in the illegally-occupied region.The provisions of the proposed 14th Amendment Bill in the Interim Constitution of PoK include laws which restrict any person to participate in political activity which does not believe accession with Pakistan.Activists have described it as a violation of the rights of “self-determination and fundamental human rights” of people of PoK."Pakistan has always imposed such laws through its facilitators on the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which comp
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