In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), political activists have been raising alarm over the worsening human rights situation in the region, ANI reports. In a recent event organised by United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), political activists from PoK accused the Pakistan Army of using terrorists to intimidate locals in the region and enforced disappearances. The event was organised as part of the 52nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Activists raised concerns over radicalism, enforced disappearances and human rights situation in the region of the Kashmir occupied by Pakistan
‘Terrorists backed by the Pak army attack people’: UKPNP Europe Zone president
Speaking to ANI, UKPNP Europe Zone president Amjad Yousuf said, “The human rights situation in PoK is very poor and Pak continues to keep its hold on the entire region. Islamabad has appointed its own officials who are called Lent officers. They have no sympathy for the local people and are unable to take care of their rights.”
He also blamed Islamabad for systematically destroying the history and culture of the indigenous people. Yousuf also accused the Pakistani Army of using terrorists in the occupied region to harass locals, especially those who are demanding the opening of the border route with India.
“Terrorists have recently carried out attacks on local student organisations who were demanding the opening of the border route with India to get cheap products as they are facing high inflation. These terrorists are backed by the army and they are used to attack the local people,” he said.
‘Pakistan has a double face’
UKPNP central spokesperson Nasir Aziz said despite the country claiming to ban terrorist groups, several of them are roaming freely. “We are trying our best to draw the attention of the UN and other international communities that our people don’t have basic rights, there is no infrastructure. Pakistan said that it banned many terrorist groups but they are roaming freely, and this is a historical fact,” he said.
“We are getting feedback from the people and we are sharing it with the international community that Pakistan has a double face, and that duplicity should be shared with the international community in the international arena,” Aziz told ANI.
He stated that people in PoK are concerned about their future as they wonder whether Pak will “sustain or it gets collapsed”. “… people are looking towards the international community to help, to intervene to protect them from this brutal state,” the UKPNP spokesperson said.