External Affairs Minister of India, Subramaniam Jaishankar on May 14, 2024, reacted to the ongoing unrest in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) highlighting the difference the people living there must be feeling in comparison to those living in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at an event in Kolkata which was organised for the release of the Bengali edition of his book Why Bharat Matters, Jaishankar said, “Today there are certain ferments happening in POJK and its analysis is very complex but definitely I have no doubt in my own mind that someone living in Jammu and Kashmir and seeing how people are progressing nowadays. They know the sense of being under occupation and being discriminated or treated badly.”
POJK has always been with India and it will always be with India. Till Article 370 was evoked, there wasn’t much discussion on POJK an Indian news agency claimed. Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir has been simmering after protest broke out over rising costs of food, fuel and utilities. Several videos on social media show local clashing with the police and forces. Some videos also show Azadi (Freedom slogans) being raised by group of protestors against Pakistan.
On May 12, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the release of Rs 23 billion for POJK for power and wheat subsidies to placate protestors. However, the protests continue in the region. On May 8, 2024, Jaishankar asserted that Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) is a part of India and said that every political party was committed to ensure POJK returns to India.
A civil unrest has been going on in POJK as residents their alleged discrimination and mistreatment at the hands of Pakistani law enforcement and the government. The civil unrest was triggered when Pakistan police tried to clamp down a protest banner of the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) which was seeking the provision of electricity as per hydropower generation cost in the region, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privilege of the elite class.
Clashes broke out between residents and police personnel when the latter tried to stop a rally for Muzaffarabad via Kotli and Poonch districts. One police officer was killed and more than 100 people, mostly policemen injured in violent clashes between security forces and agitating protestors and some of them even thought and raised calls for merging with India. But the question of merging with India doesn’t fit into the picture because POJK is an inseparable part of India.
