Govt should consider making Azad Kashmir a province like India: EX Finance Minster
Islamabad/Muzafabad; Govt should consider making Azad Kashmir a province like India: EX Finance Minster, The Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh recently stated that India does not need to use force in Azad Kashmir. He claimed tha people the people there themselves are demanding separation from Pakistan and integration with India, and this process has already begun.
Speaking on Rubaroo on PVT TV Miftah Ismail commented on the statement of Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh regarding the current situation in Azad Kashmir, saying that if Rajnath Singh is so confident, then both Kashmirs should hold a referendum and see who wants to stay with whom.
Govt should consider making Azad Kashmir a province like India: EX Finance Minster
He said that instead of making Kashmir a constitutional province, we have kept it as an administrative province.
Ismail said that Azad Kashmir is not part of their CCI (Council of Common Interests), nor are they part of other national committees.He further said that Kashmiris are also Pakistanis. If India has made the occupied Kashmir its province under the constitution, then Pakistan will also have to consider such a meausre.He added that the federation provides them with funds, but they do not receive a share in the division of products among the provinces.
Internet services shut down in Muzaffarabad, Protesters in Muzaffarabad pelted stones at Rangers personnel,
The situation in the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Muzaffarabad city has once again deteriorated and the authorities have decided to shut down internet services once again in the wake of a stand-off due to protests against electricity and taxes.
Protesters in Muzaffarabad pelted stones at Rangers personnel and damaged Rangers vehicles. In response, Rangers force used tear gas shelling on the protesters.
Joint Action Committee (JAC) representatives said they would continue their protest until their demands are fulfilled and authorities to issue notification.
Earlier, on 6th April Pakistan urges world to hold India accountable after Rajnath confirms Guardian allegations,
Pakistan Foreign Office reacted to Rajnath’s “clear admission of culpability” by urging the international community to “hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.”
The Guardian in one of its recent reports had claimed that Indian secret agencies killed at least 20 people in Pakistan. India is already facing similar charges of murdering or attempting to murder Sikh separatist leaders in North America. In September 2023, Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat after Indian agents gunned down Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan.
Reacting to the claims made by The Guardian, Rajnath Singh ended up confirming what the British daily said about the assassinations committed by Indian agents in Pakistan.
“If any terrorist tries to disturb the country’s peace, we will give a befitting reply. If they (terrorists) run back to Pakistan, to Pakistan mein ghus ke maarenge (We will go there and kill them),” the Defence Minister told CNN-News18.
India Today said, “Rajnath Singh was reacting to a report in The Guardian that blamed India for carrying out targeted killings in Pakistan.”
Rajnath Singh’s remarks undermine the Indian foreign ministry claims.
The Ministry of External Affairs responded to The Guardian by calling the allegations “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”.
Mushaal urges UN action against demographic changes in IIOJK, citing threat to plebiscite
Pakistan wants world to hold India accountable
Pakistan’s Foreign Office ‘denounced’ Rajnath’s remarks about Indian plans to assassinate more people inside Pakistan.
“Pakistan denounces the provocative remarks made by the Indian Defence Minister during a recent televised interview, the foreign office said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The statement said Rajnath’s remarks constituted a clear admission of culpability. “It is imperative for the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions,” it said.
The foreign office also said Pakistan was fully capable of defending itself and had busted the myth of Indian military superiority in February 2019 when it retaliated for an Indian airstrike in Pakistan by launching a similar raid in the Indian-occupied Kashmir and then shooting down an Indian MIG-21.
The full statement has been reproduced below.
Pakistan denounces the provocative remarks made by the Indian Defence Minister during a recent televised interview, in response to a media revelation regarding India’s clandestine operations within Pakistan.
On 25 January 2024, Pakistan provided irrefutable evidence, elucidating India’s campaign of extrajudicial and transnational assassinations on Pakistani soil. India’s assertion of its preparedness to extra-judicially execute more civilians, arbitrarily pronounced as “terrorists”, inside Pakistan constitutes a clear admission of culpability. It is imperative for the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.
Pakistan stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty against any act of aggression, as demonstrated by its robust response to India’s reckless incursion in February 2019, which laid bare India’s hollow claims of military superiority.
India’s ruling dispensation habitually resorts to hateful rhetoric to fuel hyper-nationalistic sentiments, unapologetically exploiting such discourse for electoral gains.
Such myopic and irresponsible behaviour not only undermines regional peace but also impedes the prospects of constructive engagement in the long term.
Pakistan has always demonstrated its commitment to peace in the region. However, our desire for peace should not be misconstrued. History attests to Pakistan’s firm resolve and ability to protect and defend itself.
Reported BY,
Muddaser Chuhdary/Webdesk
