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‘Systemic plundering of resources’: India skewers Pak on violent protests in PoK
Four people were killed and over 100 injured in protests by PoK residents over rising inflation and the high prices of food items and electricity
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said violent protests that rocked Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in recent weeks were the outcome of Islamabad’s “systemic plundering of resources” from territories it was forcibly and illegally occupying.
Four people were killed and more than 100 injured during several days of protests by the residents of PoK over rising inflation and the high prices of food items and electricity. Angry protestors clashed with security forces, including the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers, at several places.
Referring to the reports on the protests in several areas of PoK and casualties, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said residents took to the streets after being denied rights to their resources.
“We believe that it is a natural consequence of Pakistan’s continued policy of systemic plundering of resources from these territories which remain under its forcible and illegal occupation,” he said in response to questions at a regular media briefing.
“Such exploitative policies deny the local people rights over their own resources and the benefits thereof. We reiterate that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall always remain integral parts of India,” he said.
Jaiswal further said the issue impacts India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
India has always maintained that Pakistan has illegally occupied parts of the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since Independence in 1947. This is also the reason for India’s opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key part of which passes through PoK.
Pakistan has granted near provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, which comprises northern parts of the erstwhile state of Kashmir, while the administration in PoK has nominal powers to govern the region.
Resentment over rising prices of food and electricity had been building up in PoK since late last year and public protests erupted in the region earlier this month. Numerous videos and images posted on social media showed people clashing with security forces during intense protests since last week.
A police officer was killed and dozens were injured in clashes during a strike on May 11, while three people died when Pakistan Rangers personnel opened fire in Muzaffarabad city earlier this week.
The protests were called off by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an alliance of civil rights group, on Tuesday after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a grant of Pakistani ₹23 billion to meet the demands of protestors, including subsidies for food and electricity prices.
