• Source:JND
HighLights
  1. India slams Pakistan for human rights violations in PoK.
  2. MEA calls Pakistan's claims "fake news" and "desperate attempt."
  3. Protests erupted after JAAC ban, police brutality reported.

India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for the JAAC protest that erupted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, alleging it violated human rights and accused Islamabad of spreading misinformation in a bid to deflect attention from ground reality.

"We continue to see in this context a pattern of fake news and videos emanating from Pakistan. It is a desperate attempt by Pakistan to cover up its own failings and deflect attention away from its human rights abuses," ANI quoted Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

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Raises Concern Over Police Action

Jaiswal referred to reports emerging from the region and said, "There are reports of severe police brutality in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in which several people have been killed and many injured. We hope the international community will hold Pakistan accountable for its misdeeds and abuses."

PoK protests after JAAC ban

The remarks come after mounting tensions in PoK since the outlawing of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) - a civil society group which spearheaded the protests against issues like political representation and electricity tariffs. The authorities of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir banned the organisation claiming concerns regarding security and public order.

Recently, New Delhi protested Pakistan's announcement of conducting polls for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly over territories that the country said were illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan.

A press release issued by the MEA on Friday reiterated India's consistent position that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, inclusive of Gilgit-Baltistan, constitute an "integral and inalienable part of India" based on the irrevocable accession of J-K to India in 1947.

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Reason Behind PoK Protests

The strike was called by the JAAC over the reservation of 12 of 45 seats in the July 27 election to the legislative council in PoJK for refugees.

Protests had been organised across PoJK over issues of basic rights, economic stimulus, affordable electricity supply, and government accountability. Protests gained steam after the alleged shooting of a local trader in a scuffle with the police. The government stated that some protesters later assaulted a military hospital at Rawalakot.

JAAC leaders have called the government’s move to classify them as "terrorists" "persecution", maintaining that they only seek to attain their rightful economic and political rights as a people.

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