New Delhi: Videos of Pakistani brutality in areas of Kashmir occupied by it are an "eye-opener" for everybody across the world, said the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday and also got the backing of opposition parties. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Jitender Singh, who represent Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur in the Lok Sabha, pointed that residents of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir have been suppressed and tortured by Islamabad since 1947.
"There has been a simmering discontent among people from PoK for a long time. It is because of the discrimination suffered by this region as compared to other regions of Pakistan. This is not in terms of development but also in the basic facilities provided with respect to health care and education," said Singh.
CNN-IBN on Tuesday exposed the real face of Pakistan occupied Kashmir where there are massive protests against the Pakistani government in several areas of PoK, including Muzaffarabad, Gilgit and Kotli. CNN-IBN exposed how the Pakistani establishment is using brutal force to quell rebellion in the region, resorting to massive human rights violation even though Islamabad has never lost an opportunity to hit out at New Delhi over Kashmir and the alleged attempts to suppress the people living in the Valley.
Claiming Pakistan used excessive power to quell protests in PoK, Singh said, "Protests have taken place in the past but powers in Islamabad managed to quell it. Now it has come to a boiling point and it has come to surface. There had been instances and evidence of human right violation in PoK. They have been written about but Pakistan has been in denial mode."
When asked whether the issue will be raised, Singh said, "I cannot speak on if we will raise this at some stage. But as representative of Jammu and Kashmir, I can say that there is a common opinion that people on PoK are being deliberately oppressed in comparison to other provinces of Pakistan. Even elections are farcical as more often the Prime minister of PoK is elected by powers in Islamabad. The deprivation of democracy and discrimination has had an effect which is a matter for everybody who has an interest in J&K."
Backing Singh, Union Minister and former Army Chief General VK Singh said, “India has been saying for very long that Pakistan is not treating people in POK well. There are no democratic rights for the people there. Pakistan has always ill-treated minority groups. Pakistan is accountable and Pakistan needs to be taken to task."
The Congress, too, opined that the expose has given the Modi government an opportunity to take up the matter at the UN. "This is an opportunity for India to take the matter to UN.CNN-IBN expose confirms the unrest in PoK. People's anger in PoK is now spilling on the streets," said Congress leader Manish Tewari.
There are massive protests in PoK, demanding freedom from Pakistan aggression. These can’t be called sporadic protests, as the swelling crowd, and the police and Army presence to reign them in is a clear indicator that these agitations are not one off and are a force to reckon with.
Some protesters have said on camera that Pakistan has no right to use force on them and even that India is better than the neighbouring country.
Unrest in PoK, demands for merging with India, and the rising dissatisfaction with Pakistan considerably weakens Islamabad's Kashmir rhetoric against India. To top that, large human rights violations and illegal detentions will now question the grounds on which Pakistan has been claiming rights for Kashmiris.
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