‘Pakistani Army gave guns to Kashmiris’: JAAC leader flags Rawalpindi’s hypocrisy at POK protest

Amid continuing protests in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK), JAAC leader Sardar Aman Khan has flagged the Pakistani state's hypocrisy.

As federal and regional authorities have dubbed protesters in POJK as terrorists, Khan flagged their hypocrisy of branding Kashmiris as terrorists by pointing out that it was the Pakistani Army that handed them guns in the first place. He also indicted officials of openly sheltering terrorists in POJK.

"What do they call us? Terrorists! I say this before all of you! Pakistani Army handed guns to Kashmiris! And, they still call us terrorists! Deputy Commissioner of Rawalakot, you used to organise rallies! Do you remember or not? He used to organise their [terrorists'] rallies! He used to get fatwas issued against us. And, these kinds of people of Action Committee terrorists! People of the Action Committee are not terrorists. We are the heirs to this land!" said Khan at a rally in Rawalakot.

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Khan urged Pakistani leaders to hold talks with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in good faith. If they would not that, he warned that 80,000 people who gathered in the rally at Rawalkot would march to the regional capital of Muzaffarabad.

The rally is the latest act in the confrontation between the POJK-based groups and federal rulers. In weekslong protests, dozens have been killed and hundreds have been injured and detained as the authorities have responded with a crackdown instead of talks.

As part of the crackdown, the authorities proscribed the JAAC under anti-terrorism laws last month.

The JAAC is pursuing a POJK-wide protest over its demand to abolish 12 seats in the region’s legislative assembly reserved for refugees from J&K who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. The group claims these seats are used by mainstream Pakistani parties to influence government formation in the region. Essentially, the abolition of these seats is seen as a way to seek greater autonomy for the region.