Arun Joshi
Analysis
In September 2006, Human Rights Watch, New York based human rights watchdog ,came out with a report on Pakistan occupied Kashmir, titled “ With Friends Like these….”
In the very beginning the report quoted and highlighted a quote of Muzzafarabad resident Mir Afzal Suleri, who said
“ Pakistan says they are our friends and India is our enemy , but with friends like these , who needs enemies?”
This report was documentation of what PoK endured during and after devastating earthquake of October 5, 2005. The earthquake left thousands dead on the both sides of the Line of Control that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan . The Indian army had rescued the residents on this side of the LoC, with soldiers risking their lives . Pakistan army looked for its soldiers, leaving the civilians unattended , caught in the death trap of stony graves to which their homes had been reduced to.
Twenty years later- in 2025 – the condition of PoK and its residents has deteriorated beyond words. Over the years, particularly , in the past three , the residents have rebelled against Pakistani establishment and Army ,spotlighting atrocities unleashed on them . Their fundamental rights to protest were taken away from them. The absence of supply of wheat flour pushed them to near starvation , and inflated electricity bills left them economically shattered .
They are living in penury.. Worse than that, there land has been converted into terror camps dotting almost every where . These camps and free movement of terrorists has made them to bear double brunt – atrocities of Pak army and terrorists intruding into their private lives, making them insecure and indignified .
Each and every word of the HRW report on the human rights violations in what Pakistan calls “ Azad Kashmir” , depicted the horrendous state of affairs of the people of the region .
The report underlined the torture that so-called “ Azad Kashmir”, was suffering from . It noted that : “ Azad Kashmir”, in reality illegally occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan , “ is a legal anomaly .”
It went on to record that, according to the United Nations ( U.N.) resolutions dating back to 1948, Azad Kashmir is neither a sovereign state nor a province of Pakistan , but rather a “ local authority,” with responsibility over the area assigned to it under the 1949 ceasefire agreement with India..It has remained in this state of legal limbo since that time.”
The HRW report brought out the all-time truth : “ In practice , the Pakistani government in Islamabad , the Pakistani army and the Pakistani intelligence services ( Inter Service Intelligence, ISI) control all aspects of political life in Azad Kashmir- though Azad means “ free,” the residents of Azad Kashmir are anything but.”
Regarding the land , the HRW touched upon the grim reality of the place. It said that this is a “ the land of curbs on political pluralism , freedom of expression , and freedom of association ; a muzzled press, banned books ; arbitrary arrest and detention and tortures at the hands of the Pakistani military and the police ; and discrimination against refugees from Jammu and Kashmir state . Singled out are Kashmiri nationalists who do not support the idea of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, Anyone who wants to take part in public life has to sign a pledge of loyalty to Pakistan , while anyone who publicly supports or works for an independent Kashmir is persecuted
For those expressing independent or unpopular political views, there is a pervasive fear of Pakistani military and intelligence services- and of militant organizations acting at their behest or independently,” the report said.
In the past two decades, the POK residents have suffered the most . Their only hope is India, because they don’t want friends like Pakistan that are worse than enemies.
