POJK not a part of Pakistan constitutionally: Mirpur Awami Action Leader Arif Chaudhary

Arif Chaudhary, a prominent leader of the Joint Awami Action Committee’s Mirpur Chapter held a press conference at Mirpur Press Club recently, addressing the Pakistan administration’s disregard for the people of the Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK)

Chaudhary emphasised the lack of fulfilment of promised rights and resources for POJK residents, highlighting Mirpur’s repeated sacrifices for Pakistan benefit despite ongoing neglect and suppression. He stated, “We the people of Mirpur are civilised but have been suppressed, looted, forcefully dislocated and the same destruction continues today.

During the conference, the Arif Chaudhary asserted that POJK is constitutionally not a part of Pakistan. Referring to Pakistan’s Constitution, Chaudhary mentioned, “According to Article 257 of the nation’s constitution, POJK is not a part of Pakistan. Its status was declared in a United Nations resolution based on mutual agreements between India and Pakistan during the late 1940s.

At that time, it was mutually decided that 26 commodities would be provided to the people of the POJK. Hence, Pakistan is bound to fulfil its part towards our people as it has signed an agreement at the United Nations (UN).”

He criticised the severe load shedding in the POJK Chaudhary stated, POJK is rich in land resources, especially water which is highly used for generation of electricity for entire Pakistan. Mirpur sacrificed a significant part of the city to accommodate the dam responsible for generating this electricity.

He continued, “The Pakistani constitution, in Article 157 and 161, stipulates that the majority benefit of resources generated from any land will be given to the locals. However, our rivers produce cheap electricity at merely PKR 2.59 per unit (Pakistan Rupee) yet, we are charged PKR 80 per unit. This discrepancy is neither constitutional nor humanitarian,” he said.

“Only a small section merely 33 percent of POJK total population is paying the electricity charges for the entire region. Neither the judiciary, the administrative officials, the chief secretary, nor the 5000 employees (permanent employees) of the POJK government pay any electricity bills, hence we demand compensation for all the resources that Pakistan has been taking from us,” he said.

He condemned the government’s negligence regarding the issues of POJK and mentioned the failure to address the concerns raised in the Supreme Court of Pakistan., He said, “The government in the past had promised to resolve their issues within 45 days, but now six months have passed by without any resolution.

In 2011, I brought a case to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, highlighting our lack of compensation and reallocation of the land and houses under the Land Acquisition Act, which were promised to us during the construction of the Mangla Dam. After a year, the case was dismissed.

He concluded, “Our hands are now forced to bring these issues to the UN and citing articles of the Pakistani constitution. This will be shameful for Pakistan on the international stage. We have sacrificed for the establishment of Pakistan and we demand that the government takes them seriously and addresses them properly.”