Pakistan observes Kashmir Day amid internal unrest and protests across provinces

278

About the Author(s)

1. Introduction:

Today is Youm e Istehsal Kashmir. It is observed annually on 5 August.  In August 2019, India provoked the special status of Kashmir (Article 370) and claimed it as their own part (Atoot Angh).  

From then Pakistanis and Kashmiri citizens living in Pakistan have been observing this day. Today the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari said “Today marked the 5 years of illegal, permanent occupation of India on Kashmir. India has made illegal attempts to cancel the special status of Kashmir; all these are illegal according to the international laws and also to the 4^th Geneva Convention.”

Prime Minister, Shahbaz Shairf said “Today we remember the darkest day in the history. On 5 August 2019, the illegal measures were started in Kashmir.”

Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also said that “Before 5 years the action that India committed in its constitution (referring to the provocation of Article 370) is unconstitutional. Any decision of India regarding the Kashmir is unacceptable.”

On 5^th February, Pakistanis observed Kashmir day annually. It was first called by The Ameer Hussain Ahmad, the then Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.

2. Internal Unrest:

See, all Pakistani top officials are condemning the acts committed by India regarding Kashmir, but what Pakistani government is doing to their own people?

It is interesting to know that Pakistani government gives more attention to its neighbours like Kashmir, Afghanistan, etc  or far flung countries like Palestine, Syria, Yemen, etc. The current on-going situation in Pakistan is described by International media as civil war. There are huge protests going on in every province of Pakistan, either for inflation or against military operations or for politics.

From the start of 2024, we saw protests in Gilgit Baltistan then few months later in Balochistan, then after few months in KPK now we are seeing in Sindh and Punjab too. Let me describe these to you one by one.

A. Gilgit Baltistan:

From 2023-2024 huge protests were arranged in Gilgit Baltistan against the dramatic increase in the price of wheat. Thousands of people came out on streets against the Federal government and Gilgit government. Almost all political parties, business communities and NGOs participated in the protests.

These protests were started on 23 December 2023 and were called to end in January 2024.

B. Azad Jammu and Kashmir:

On 8^th May, 2024 a protest was organised by Joint Awami Action Committee. It slowly spread to the whole region of AJK. This protest was also arranged against the Inflation in the region. Protestors came out on streets, blocked roads in different cities of the AJK.

On May 12^th government tried to arrest some protestors which resulted in a major spark in the protest. A police officer was died and almost 75 police officials were injure. Several protestors were also injured.

Joint Awami Action Committee gave their charter of demands to government which includes much point. I’ll short list some for you;

1. Government should provide a wheat subsidy.
2. As the electricity is majorly produced in the AJK region, so government should provide the electricity at the cost of production.
3. Government should also end giving protocols and luxury privileges to the officials and ministers of the government.
4. Restrictions from the student union should be lifted off.
5. New elections to hold in the region.
6. Property taxes should be reduced.

On May 14 government accepted most of the demands to it, electricity to be provided on lower rates, subsidy for the wheat. Almost 23 billion rupees were awarded to the AJK in terms of subsidy. It was also announced that this is a permanent subsidy which will also be included in the next budget.

C. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

a) Bannu;

In June 2024, several protests were held by the TTP and other political parties in KPK on a very large scale.

Government and Army announced a new operation to be held in KPK and in Balochistan named as “Operation Azm e Istehkam”. This is an operation against the new wave of the terrorism as described by the Pakistani government.

The past operation held by the army did not give good result. Rather, people from the KPK and Balochistan went missing on a very mass scale. Illegal smuggling started and the basic rights of the people were denied repeatedly.

So, people started to came out on the roads to protest against this operation. On July 14, Gul Bahdur Group, which operated from Afghanistan, attacked the Bannu Cantt. Armed forces responded to it, bit, about 8 army officials were died and several civilians were died.

Protest was going on in Bannu where reportedly army opened fire on the civilians. According to the local sources, almost 7-9 civilians were died. This gave a spark to the protest and then, major protests were held in the whole province against the army officials.

b) Kurram (Parachinar);

A fight broke out in Parachinar area around 28^th July, where two tribes named as Maleekhel and Boshera were involved in a fight over a land dispute. Later, it also covered the neighboring towns/tribes which are Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Kalay, Mabqbal, Kunj, Aliza, Para Chankari and Karma.

These areas also hold a history of deadly clashes between Shias and Sunnis. So, local leaders and militants to achieve their war aims, they gave this clash a color of Shia-Sunni conflict making the situation worse. Till now, this conflict has claimed almost 50 lives while 200 are being injured.

According to the local sources, both sides used heavy weapons such as mortar shells and rocket launchers.

DC Javedullah Mehsud claimed that with the help of armed forces and tribal chiefs, in a jirga a ceasefire have been made where both sides actively agreed. However, last night’s firing was also made again but when police raided the town it stopped. According to the local sources, it is peace there but the Peshawar-Parachinar highway is still closed by the authorities and heavy force is deployed in the area.

CM of KPK, Ali Main Gandapur announced that Jirga leader should resolve this conflict.

Now questions here are;

1. How did these civilian do get such advanced military weapons?
2. If Jirga leaders have to solve these issues then for what purpose the government is there?
3. How a land dispute claimed so many lives? And what actions have been made against the culprits?

D. Balochistan:

Balochistan has a long history of oppression. Missing persons, inflation, isolation from the rest of the region and army operations are the ever green issues there.

They also protested against the new operation called “Azm e Istehkam”. This protest is mainly led by Dr. Mahrang Baloch, who is a human rights and Baloch activist. They are sitting in Gwadar for many days. Government is not showing any positive response to talk with the demonstrators. Rather, several people and leaders are arrested and allegations are made on Army, that they opened direct shots on the protestors and also used their force and power to stop the protest to go to Gwadar.

3. Conclusion:

Numerous political leaders are warning that if the government fails to address these grievances, the country risks a crisis reminiscent of 1971, when East Pakistan seceded to become Bangladesh. They emphasize that ignoring regional discontent could lead to severe consequences for national unity.

We must prioritize the welfare of our own citizens first. Only then can we credibly advocate against injustices committed by any nation against another. By addressing domestic issues, we strengthen our moral authority to speak on international matters.