SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir's political and religious leaders have expressed concern over the deadly unrest and civilian killings in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, with NC president Farooq Abdullah urging the UNHRC to investigate the situation.
The NC president and three-time former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) to visit PoK and investigate the situation there.
“They are facing excesses today and many people have been martyred. We don’t know what is happening there. The world should know what they are going through,” he said.
The unrest in PoK has intensified amid protests led by Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a civil society group of PoK that is demanding relief from inflation, restoration of political, economic and human rights, and abolition of 12 seats in PoK Assembly reserved for refugees ahead of July 27 elections in the region.
According to reports, more than 30 people including police personnel have been killed during the ongoing agitation.
In Srinagar, activists of the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir (ATVK) assembled outside the United Nations office and staged a protest against the killing of civilians in PoK. Raising anti-Pakistan slogans, the protesters demanded international intervention to address the situation.
ATVK chairperson Tasleema Akhter called for impartial assessment of the situation and accountability for those responsible for the human rights violations and civilian killings. She urged the United Nations to intervene and take appropriate measures to prevent further loss of life.
J&K BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi while expressing concern over large scale killings of civilians in PoK said, “the only crime of people there is that they are seeking development and acknowledgement of their fundamental rights”.
“PoJK people are living life in hell without basic human rights. They are looking to the development model of J&K particularly after Modi became Prime Minister and are seeking similar opportunities and rights,” he said.
According to Sethi, the PoK situation should serve as an eye opener for Pakistan supporters in J&K, who had been instigating generations and using them as fuel in terror activities. “Bullets fire of Pakistan troops won't be enough to extinguish the fire of independence of PoJK people”.
The BJP spokesman warned that Pakistan agencies may try to indulge in terror acts in India especially in J&K to divert attention from killings and unrest in PoJK.
Hurriyat Conference chairman and cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the killing of more than a dozen protesting civilians and police personnel is extremely sad. “The Government there should know better than to use force to handle public grievances and demands in this manner.”
“When people take to the streets to express their concerns, it is a signal that they seek to be heard. It is the responsibility of those in authority to listen, engage and peacefully resolve the matter, rather than allow it to escalate into violence, arbitrary arrests and loss of life,” he said and hoped that better sense prevails and the matter is handled with maturity while addressing concerns of the people.
