JK News Commentary
The other side of the Line of Control – Pakistan occupied Kashmir that Pakistan calls “ Azad Kashmir” is closed to the world is a known reality that cannot be whitewashed by any amount o of narratives of falsehood.
Anam Zakaria ,a Pakistani writer , who has written a fascinating book “ Between the Great Divide, a journey into Pakistan administered Kashmir “ has documented certain details that are horrifying . It seems that the people of PoK have no voice of their own because they are not allowed to possess one of their own . They have to speak only what they are told to by the Pakistani establishment .
Ms. Zakaria writes : “ In Pakistan, the only narrative one hears from –and about- ‘Azad’ Kashmir is one that conforms with that of Pakistani State. During the research in the face of these meta-narratives has been arduous. It has been particularly difficult to get numbers, statistics, ‘undistorted’ facts and unbiased reports on the region, especially because not enough has been written on ‘Azad’ Kashmir.
This is the ordeal of a Pakistani author , what must be happening to the outsiders can be well imagined .
Ms. Zakaria also makes a reference to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s report on Kashmir released in June this year in the preface of her book. She observes that PoK’s human rights conditions are also mentioned in the report , She says, “ It ( the report) also highlights human rights abuses in Pakistan administered Kashmir, stating that ‘the human rights violations in this area ( PoK) are of a different caliber or magnitude and of a more structural nature . The report also notes the difficulties in accessing the information in Pakistan administered Kashmir due to ‘ restriction on the freedoms of expression, opinion , peaceful assembly and association …”
This is just a glimpse of what is happening in PoK . This is hidden from the world view and the best way that Pakistani establishment uses to hide the miserable political, economic and violence-ridden life of the people of PoK where the terror training camps flourish aplenty and terrorists harass the local people , is to fund the people and vested interests to present a distorted picture about Jammu and Kashmir , the part that is with India, where every right is available to the people as to the rest of the countrymen, to the world .
