Editor JK News Today
Analysis
Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir ( PoJK) by declaring them non-Kashmiris, after having used them for decades as Kashmiri faces and voices to pull the wool over the eyes of the world.
He declared that residents of Rawlakot – the epicenter of the revolt against Pakistan , where tens of thousands of people are staging a peaceful sit-in for the past over two weeks- were not Kashmiris , but anti-Pakistan and ungrateful people speaking and acting against the nation that feeds them . This has further fueled the agitation against the Pakistani establishment The residents are gripped with a deep sense of being cheated by the establishment that used them for all the anti-India propaganda .
In short, having no other option , Khawaja Asif has candidly admitted that PoJK has risen in revolt against Pakistan in all its forms and manifestations .
He described them as the ones who were speaking and acting against Pakistan . His implication was that it was not Kashmiris who had risen in revolt against Pakistan , but non-Kashmiri residents of Rawalakot and Mirpur of PoJK. Until the recent past , all of them were Kashmiris.
What the people of PoJK have done – revolted against the Pakistani establishment – had been anticipated for a long time . They knew that Pakistan exploited them through and through and used them for its geopolitical agenda focused on anti-India propaganda and activities . They deeply regret having been used as tools of Pakistan’s exploitative politics over the decades — since 1947, to be precise.
Khawaja Asif told National Assembly, Pakistan’s Parliament on Wednesday-June 24, 2026- that Pakistan fought five wars – 1947-1948, 1965, 1971 and Kargil war of summer of 1999 are recorded . But which fifth war he is talking about could be either the proxy war of terrorism that it launched in J&K since 1990. Or, it could be a reference to the counter-offensive Pakistan launched after India’s anti-terrorism “Operation Sindoor” May last year , that it had codenamed “ Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos’, the result of which was that it beseeched for a ceasefire after three and a half days – May 10, 2025.
Now , they have realized that Pakistan is a grabber of their natural resources . They are also angry with Pakistan for having made their land into a home of terrorists and terror camps .And, now , they have risen against the terror- sponsoring state of Pakistan . Once they have done so, Pakistan has begun defaming them and questioning their ethnicity, culture and ethos.
Khawaja Asif’s statement, first made in an interview with a Pakistani TV channel Samma TV.. has to be understood in two contexts . First , it is a sign of Pakistani nervousness and frustration over the anti-Pakistan movement gaining momentum in PoJK where the people have rejected all the claims that Islamabad had been making about their territory being “ Azad”, or free,. Second, he has given vent to the inner feelings within the Punjabi dominated establishment regarding the occupied territories . There is growing awareness that territories will not stay with Pakistan for long, as the revolt has reached a decisive stage; Pakistan has lost all its cards both internally and internationally .
The Joint Awami Action Committee , spearheading the people’s movement against Pakistani rule in PoJK , is agitating on two counts . Apart from a life of dignity , they are demanding the scrapping of 12 seats reserved for the so-called Kashmiri migrants .These seats are utilized as part of used as part of Islamabad’s manipulative politics to maintain control over the occupied territories. This manipulation is aimed at stifling the voice of the people there . At the same time , they want to remove the clause in the election nomination form that requires them to declare their support for the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. Because Islamabad funds and subsidized PoJK , critics argue that the people have no right to protest the mandatory clause and must submit to it .
The clause requiring the people of PoJK to formally submit to the region’s accession to Pakistan indicates that the inhabitants of the occupied territories recognize their future , and that of their generations , is not safe and secure under Pakistan’s rule .
Alongside the Pakistani establishment – the army and the so-called civilian government- Pakistani media has been deployed to target the residents of Rawlakot , Mirpur and Kotli as the patrons of child rapists in Britain . A large number of people from these areas are settled in Britain , and their remittances have enriched Pakistan’s economy . Still , the Pakistani state is relentlessly defaming them
The people of PoJK have seen oppression and repression over the decades ,and now they know where their fate lies -India.
The Jammu and Kashmir on this side of the LoC is on a path of progress and prosperity .
Today’s Jammu and Kashmir has seen iconic progress and several landmarks have been added to its history and geography . Its dreams have been translated into reality with generous funding and the emotional and political support of the Modi government in the last 12 years .
All of the propaganda against the Modi government in Pakistan , used to rally anti-India and anti-Hindu sentiment , has fallen flat , as Delhi has taken care of every resident of the region . The last village and the last man have been covered under the welfare schemes initiated and implemented by Delhi in the past decade . These initiatives and the benefits that have delivered to the common people in J&K , have exposed all the lies peddled by Pakistan that the people here were unhappy with Delhi . Today, Kashmir is an emblem of Indian nationalism , where not only does the national flag flutter everywhere, but the spirit of Kashmir resonates with the national anthem and national song of the country.
