PoK Activist Lambasts OIC Delegation Visit
For nearly 75 years, one third of Kashmir, along with Gilgit Baltistan has been under illegal occupation of Pakistan. Though called AZAD by Pakistan, it has the entire area under its own jurisdiction and exploiting it to the hilt, despite local people’s opposition.
Dr. Amjad Ayub Mirza, a Kashmiri political activist, minced no word while lambasting the visit of a delegation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir this week. He even accused OIC of stoking up the Kashmir issue at the behest of Islamabad to advance the Pakistani narrative.
The OIC delegation during its funded tour has travelled a few places in PoK as per the itinerary prepared by Pakistan. Holding symbolic meetings with the local leaders they parroted Islamabad’s position in the region. They went to the extent of praising Pakistan for its work while ignoring the fact that there were multiple protests being held at the same time in the region. From students to traders to government officials to the common citizens, all have been holding an anti-Pakistan government for weeks.
Mirza, has now exposed the real intent behind this funded tour. He also posed a number of direct pointed questions in front of OIC asking if the group had seen the true picture of PoK where the current situation is no short of a humanitarian crisis.
“Did you notice the amount of filth and garbage piled up in our cities? Did you manage to interview our shopkeepers who are losing their business every day due to severe load shedding and power failures? Did you manage to visit the family of Dr. Gulam Abbas, a Canadian Kashmiri, who was visiting his native place Kotli to attend his father’s funeral and was shot in the face after two weeks only by the Pakistani secret services, just because he was promoting inter-faith, Hindu-Muslim religious tolerance? Did you visit my rivers that have dried up because they have been diverted in order to facilitate the hydropower projects that are under construction or have been already completed in my land, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, just because Punjab industries and Punjab factories need to be facilitated with extra power generation?” said Dr. Amjad Ayub Mirza, who hails from Mirpur in PoK.
Pakistan has recently formed a new alliance with Turkey which has a good grip on the OIC. Pakistan after failing to garner international support on Kashmir on the basis of the repeated perpetuation of lies and propaganda on Kashmir, it has turned to the OIC.
Mirza also asked as to what was the real driving force for which OIC rallied behind Pakistan’s stand and ignored natives’ plight.
“Did you not see the misery of our people? Did you not see how we have been chained in the interim constitution prepared and imposed by Pakistan on us that deprives us of freedom to choose and forces us to sign the document of accession to Pakistan? Probably not…probably not because like the rest of the world, like the rest of the Islamic world, your ears are also plugged by Pakistan’s false narratives about history and distorted facts about Kashmir”, said Mirza.
After the partition in 1947, Pakistan launched a tribal attack on the people of Kashmir and then invaded with its Army, before the Indian military intervened.
Resolution 39 of the United Nations clearly states that Pakistan was the aggressor in 1947 and it was urged to withdraw its forces. Unfortunately, the resolution was never paid any sincere regard by Pakistani authorities.
Even today, the people of PoK and Gilgit Baltistan continue to suffer at the hands of the brutal military rulers of Pakistan. All human rights indices fail to meet even the basic standard with people regularly raising demands for their rights.
And the sole reason behind Pakistan hosting free trips for delegations like the one of OIC is that it wants to serve and feed and lies on Kashmir and the humanitarian status of its people.
