Slowly but steadily the residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) started raising voices against the Pakistan government in Islamabad. It may be the visible effect of Narendra Modi government in New Delhi, or not, but one must admit that people of the hilly region have come to the streets repeatedly in the last few years demanding freedom from Pakistan.
Otherwise, for millions of common Indians, the PoK looks like a province of Pakistan. It is presumed that nearly 4.5 million PoK habitants happily agree to any proposal from the Pak government. With the proximity of religion, the people of PoK seemingly feel comfortable with the Islamic Republic.
But slowly the myth has started losing its ground. Few recent uprisings in PoK’s capital city of Muzaffarabad along with few other towns against Islamabad have shown the anxiety of locals. The local media in PoK highlighted the people’s anger against the Islamabad regime, even though the Pak media preferred to remain reluctant to cover those demonstrations.
Very recently, a section of PoK residents in Kotli town demonstrated against the government in Muzaffarabad demanding proper medical care in the hospitals. Similarly, many people in Bagh urged the authority for improving the education scenario. In the first look, it may emerge as a protest against the local government, but in reality, the grievances were meant for Islamabad.
It may be noted that Kashmir, which went under British rule in 1846 and later turned as a semi-independent pristine State till 1947, was later divided into four segments. The major part remains with India as it Jammu and Kashmir province. The northeastern part went under the occupation of Beijing (known as Aksai Chin).
The northern region is made a semi province (known as Gilgit-Baltistan) by Pakistan. Presently Islamabad is thinking about reorganizing the territory as a full-fledged province of Pakistan after Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh.
The western part remains as Pakistan administered zone. Islamabad calls it Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where one can see an elected President (presently Sardar Masood Khan), Prime Minister (Raja Farooq Haider), a Legislative Assembly and even a Supreme Court are all functioning. However, the real political-economy rests with the Kashmir Affair Minister in Pakistan Premier’s cabinet.
Hence, the demonstrators in PoK (or AJK) always raise voices against the Pak government, even though AJK is not represented in Pakistan’s National Assembly. Though initiated with various reasons including protests against the hydroelectric dam over Neelum River, shrinking of job opportunities and anti-people activities by both State and non-State actors, the inherent demands remain the liberty from Islamabad.
For records, October 5, 2018, protest in Muzaffarabad was led by United Kashmir People’s National Party raising voices against the Neelum dam, but their slogans included ‘Azadi for Kashmiri People’, ‘Long Live Kashmir’, ‘Go to Hell Pakistan’ etc. It means the agitators were asking for rights over their land and natural resources.
Similarly, a number of protest-demonstrations in September across PoK highlighted the interventions over Neelum apprehending the shortage of drinking water in Muzaffarabad locality. The demonstrators expressed anger against Islamabad for misusing the local resources.
So the ongoing freedom movement in the entire Kashmir got derailed as the international community started believing that the movement had mingled with the Islamist terrorism. Facing international pressures to crack down terror groups, the Islamabad regime inherently used PoK as their safe heavens.
It may be noted that the hilly region has very little non-Muslim populations. Even before the partition, there were only a few Hindu families. Whoever left they were forcefully converted into Islam and the temples were demolished. The pathetic story of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave their ancestor’s village because of Muslim aggression, narrates a part of the history. The visibility of Pandits in Kashmir declined from 10 per cent in 1947 to less than 1 per cent today.
Admitting the presence of Islamist fundamentalist elements in PoK, a Muzaffarabad based journalist named Haris Qadeer, who used to edit once the highest circulated Urdu newspaper Daily Mujadala, pointed out that the growth of radical elements and terrorism had affected local aspirations for a greater Kashmir.
Qadeer, who talked to a group of journalists at Guwahati Press Club in northeast India through video-conferencing recently, commented that in contrast to commonly-held belief in India, the people of PoK are neither in favour of Islamabad nor in support of New Delhi. Rather they (mostly Muslims) prefer to identify themselves as Kashmiri first, asserted the young editor.
Answering queries from Guwahati scribes about any visible change of perception after legendary cricketer Imran Khan becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Qadeer commented that it is too early to get the impression. He, however, stated that the PoK residents would have little expectation from the new regime in Islamabad.
While appreciating the vibrant Indian media, nurtured with constitutional safeguards, Qadeer expressed concern over the restricted media freedom in his place. He narrated the story of Daily Mujadala (www.dailymujadala.com), which is now under ban by the Pak government for one year.
“We published a survey report last year in the newspaper, where it was found that majority respondents dared to reject Islamabad’s domination over their land. In fact, over 73 per cent of respondents opted for freedom from Pakistani occupation and eventually establish an independent State of Kashmir,” said Qadeer.
The irritated Pak government (read Pakistani military) promptly sent a notice to the editor, but when Qadeer did not bow down, the local authorities sealed his office on 12 September 2017. As the ban still continues, Qadeer now contributes news-features for various other media outlets for survival. He does not see any hope for a change of hearts by the Pak politicians and military officials in Rawalpindi very soon.
It may be noted that most of the issues concerning PoK residents are not highlighted in the media as their vernacular newspapers remain weak and the majority of newspapers, circulated in PoK, are actually Kashmir editions of various Pakistan based media outlets. As for news channels, which are mostly cable operated, there is almost zero visibility of any India based news channel in PoK.
So it is understood that only a few PoK residents might have heard about New Delhi’s strong position as the entire Kashmir inclusive of PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Aksai Chin is an integral part of India.
That is why there is a possibility that they are not aware of India’s strong opposition to the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through Gilgit-Baltistan.
But good news for India is that the youths in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan now want to study in various educational institutions across the country. They even start demanding reservations in IIMs, IITs, various medical, agriculture, law universities for the students of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Taking the help of social media, those aspiring students appealed to New Delhi and Indian populace ‘not to ignore’ them.
By Nava Thakuria
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
