UKPNP convention in PoJK highlights human rights violations and development issues

Kotli (PoJK), August 25 (ANI): The United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) held its two-day annual central convention in Kotli, highlighting various issues including human rights violations, development challenges in the region and misuse of the land for breeding terrorists.

The event was attended by a large number of people from different districts of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

A mass rally was also held in Thorar region where many protesters shouted slogans against the Pakistani administration and carried placards demanding intervention by the PoJK government.

The PoJK region has reportedly been plagued by problems such as lack of availability of basic services, severe underdevelopment of infrastructure, major power outages and brutalities inflicted on locals by the defence forces.

In addition, PoJK residents have been vocal about their grievances, particularly the revocation of subsidies for essential products such as flour and wheat.

Addressing the audience in Kotli, UKPNP leader Sajid Hussain said, “The Pakistani administration has orchestrated several genocides. They are harming the Baloch community in Balochistan, Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindhis in Sindh. Their aim was to orchestrate genocide in the PoJK region. They had raised the demand of deploying Frontier Corps (FC), Punjab Police (PC) and Rangers. All this resulted in the death of three youth, and we will never allow their sacrifice to go in vain. There is only one way to achieve our goals, and that is through peaceful protest.” He continued, “Under all conditions, we will continue our struggle in PoJK. We will continue to raise our voices for our rights, for equality, freedom and establishment of democracy. Our struggle will remain peaceful and diplomatic. They have constantly tried to turn our recent protests into a violent one but have failed to do so. We were not just protesting outside the UN. We have not demonstrated against the Pakistani administration or the UK Parliament; instead, we have diversified our protests against the Pakistani administration to several other places. We believe that harm inflicted on even a single resident of PoJK is harm to the entire community.” Earlier, the UKPNP condemned the administration’s decision to deploy Pakistani defence forces in PoJK.

According to the UKPNP statement, the deployment, authorised by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, was aimed at quelling the ongoing people’s rights movement in PoJK and was seen as a betrayal of the Kashmiri people.

The statement stressed that Pakistan’s invasion of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22, 1947, resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent Kashmiris and the forcible division of the state, sowing the seeds of communalism and continued bloodshed.

The UKPNP claimed that Pakistan lacks legitimacy in Kashmir and has no right to deploy its forces there.

The move has raised eyebrows in the region, particularly after an incident that resulted in three deaths in Muzaffarabad, allegedly involving paramilitary forces during a peaceful sit-in demanding the release of detained activists before June 25.

Furthermore, the UKPNP has called on the United Nations and the international community to intervene and demand that Pakistan refrain from using force against peaceful protesters in PoJK. (ANI)