PoK Burning – Decoding The Protests
Since its separation in 1947 from India, entire Pakistan and its leadership have been surviving because of Anti-India sentiments. While India is on its path to becoming the top superpower of the world & the fourth largest economy, Pakistan is struggling to even provide food to its nationals.
The current protests in various parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) rechristen the memories of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War where a popular people’s movement was successful in uprooting the authoritarian Pakistani establishment from its soil.
The current protests are not new. There have been several minor and major protests in PoK over past one decade, but the intensity of the current protests is quite strong. Moreover, when the Pakistani establishment tried to suppress the current movement by use of force, it further infuriated the mob.
It is most likely that the protests may turn more and more violent and even pick weapons in near future. Suppressing the mob with such a high level of force always fires back and the signs were visible in last two days when one of the cops was lynched by the mob.
What will happen in PoK, what will be the timelines and what will be the outcome are questions for both India and Pakistan as the area was illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1948 and India deserves its complete right over this land. Let us decode the reasons why these protests are taking place and why they are different from the earlier protests.
An ignored piece of land –
Since 1948, PoK has been totally ignored by the Pakistani establishment. The only utility of PoK for Pakistan is the land to fight India. Despite of being a source of revenue through various means like energy, mining, tourism, overseas disbursements, mountaineering & agriculture, PoK never got its due share of resources. Let us take the example of Mangla dam alone.
The dam is located in PoK and generates nearly 20% of total hydroelectricity of Pakistan. Despite of this, PoK gets just 30% electricity of its requirement & a lion’s share goes to Pakistani Punjab. The per capita GDP of PoK is much higher than the rest of Pakistan and their literacy rate is 76.6% as against 58% of Pakistan but there are very less institutions of higher education in PoK. PoK is far ahead of Pakistan in every field but the share they get is not even 20% of what they deserve.
Pok Burning – Decoding The Protests
Since its separation in 1947 from India, entire Pakistan and its leadership have been surviving because of Anti-India sentiments. While India is on its path to becoming the top superpower of the world & the fourth largest economy, Pakistan is struggling to even provide food to its nationals. The current protests in various parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) rechristen the memories of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War where a popular people’s movement was successful in uprooting the authoritarian Pakistani establishment from its soil.
The current protests are not new. There have been several minor and major protests in PoK over past one decade, but the intensity of the current protests is quite strong. Moreover, when the Pakistani establishment tried to suppress the current movement by use of force, it further infuriated the mob. It is most likely that the protests may turn more and more violent and even pick weapons in near future. Suppressing the mob with such a high level of force always fires back and the signs were visible in last two days when one of the cops was lynched by the mob.
What will happen in PoK, what will be the timelines and what will be the outcome are questions for both India and Pakistan as the area was illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1948 and India deserves its complete right over this land. Let us decode the reasons why these protests are taking place and why they are different from the earlier protests.
An ignored piece of land –
Since 1948, PoK has been totally ignored by the Pakistani establishment. The only utility of PoK for Pakistan is the land to fight India. Despite of being a source of revenue through various means like energy, mining, tourism, overseas disbursements, mountaineering & agriculture, PoK never got its due share of resources. Let us take the example of Mangla dam alone. The dam is located in PoK and generates nearly 20% of total hydroelectricity of Pakistan. Despite of this, PoK gets just 30% electricity of its requirement & a lion’s share goes to Pakistani Punjab. The per capita GDP of PoK is much higher than the rest of Pakistan and their literacy rate is 76.6% as against 58% of Pakistan but there are very less institutions of higher education in PoK. PoK is far ahead of Pakistan in every field but the share they get is not even 20% of what they deserve.
Lack of amenities & infrastructure –
Over last seven decades, Pakistan did not provide even basic amenities to the residents of PoK. There is no significant provisions of drinking water, there is very less electricity (Nearly 70% of PoK & Gilgit Baltistan is without any energy infrastructure) and there is no infrastructure in terms of roads, bridges or anything. Whatever has been developed, it is exclusively either for the use of Pakistan Army or developed by China under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). There is hardly any major hospital in the area and due to rugged terrain people are forced to see their near ones die. On top of this, the occupying Pakistan Army does not support the locals. They have heavily militarized the area and have their camps everywhere but unlike Indian Army on this side of the Line of Control (LoC), their facilities are not open for common people. This was evident during 2005 earthquake where more than a lakh people were killed in PoK alone and Pakistan Army shut the doors of their camps to the locals.
Highest levels of inflation & non supply of essential goods –
In the current Pakistani economic turmoil, the inflation in double digit is affecting the lives of common people. Although this is due to the wrongdoing & corruption of Pakistani establishment, the relief measures are not being extended to the residents of PoK. While there is subsidy on essential goods like Atta everywhere in Pakistan, the same is either not given to PoK or the subsidized goods are not supplied to this area. There is critical shortage of food, water, electricity, medicines, and other things. The common person in PoK is witnessing that while they are doing their bit for Pakistan, all goodies go to Punjab from where the ruling elites of Pakistan come from.
Massive exploitation of locals-
The Pakistan government, their military and the terror groups having their camps in PoK are constantly exploiting the locals and there is no one to complain. They get hardly any compensation when their lives are lost or people are injured in cross LoC firing or mine blasts, they do not get any compensation for use of their land by Pakistan Army or the terror groups. Not only this, the locals are used as porters, guides, and their houses are used as shelter, but they do not get due compensation. Local boys are forcefully recruited into various militias, Pakistan Army, and their paramilitary forces. There have been cases where terrorists stationed in PoK even exploited young local girls. These things have created an overall anti-Pakistan atmosphere in PoK.
Rigged elections –
Ever since Pakistan annexed PoK using clever means, there is no election which can be justified as a true election. Nearly all elections were rigged, and the Pakistani Army played a major role in the same. It is said that in Pakistan, governments are not elected but are selected by the Pakistani establishment. Let’s analyze the current assembly of PoK. Out of 53 seats, 8 are reserved through nomination while 13 seats are those which physically do not exist in PoK (Jammu and Srinagar area). Elections on these 13 seats are always rigged as physical elections cannot take place. This makes total 21 seats which is 40% of total majority. Anyone getting just 6 seats can form the government with the help of these 21 and this justifies the entire political system in PoK. Due to this system, the voice of a common resident of PoK never reaches Islamabad.
Comparison with Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir –
There is one more reason to the anger to the locals of PoK. When they compare their state with their Indian counterparts, the stark difference is visible. While Indian part gets around $50 Billion annually for developmental expenditures, PoK gets just $88-90 million which is not even 2% of the former. Further, the Indian part is well developed and in past 5 years, have proceeded towards normalcy in a big way. These things added fuel to the burning fire and forced the common Kashmiri living in PoK to come out and protest.
When we see the current protests, one thing is clear that Pakistani Establishment has totally failed to pay attention at an area which they call as their jugular vein, an area over which they fought four major wars and numerous conflicts with India and got defeated in each one of them, an area on the issue of which, their governments have been fooling their public for last seventy five years and an area which is actually called the heaven on the earth. Situation in PoK is not different than the situation in Bangladesh during 1971 uprising. If Pakistan Army continues to suppress the protest by forceful means, it is a matter of time that the locals turn violent and pick up weapons.
(Amit Bansal is a Defence Strategist with keen interests in International Relations and Internal Security. He is also an author, blogger, and poet.)
(DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of India.com. The writer is solely responsible for any claims arising out of the contents of this article.)
(india.com)
