PTI rejects AJK polls, seeks judicial inquiry into violence

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Wednesday rejected the recent elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), calling the electoral process “a fraud”, and condemned the violence in the region, which it said sent a wrong message internationally and hurt the Kashmir cause.

Reports of several deaths and injuries have surfaced on social media since Monday in Rawalakot, Mirpur and other areas. Several videos circulating online showed scenes of unrest with claims of violence and casualties, although the details could not be independently verified. Both security forces and the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) claimed loss of life on both sides.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the opposition parties had on Tuesday called for an impartial and independent investigation into the reports of deaths and injuries.

Addressing a press conference along with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan today, former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Qayyum Niazi said that Kashmir was subjected to unprecedented oppression and brutality.

“Kashmiris are being crushed in a way that has no precedent. These are the same Kashmiris who passed the resolution in favor of accession to Pakistan on July 19, 1947, even before Pakistan came into being,” he said.

Read: AJK Police Says JAAC Working Under ‘Specific Agenda’, Accuses Protesters of Using Automatic Weapons

He said the protesters had made every effort to reach an agreement, but when they realized their demands were no longer being heard, they announced a protest on June 9.

“They are peaceful people and remain peaceful even today. Tell me, was a member of our forces killed by gunfire or hit with a baton there? These people are taking bullets, yet they continue to stand peacefully,” he said.

Niazi questioned the decision to hold the elections in three phases, saying that AJK had a population of only 3.5-4 million.

“Pakistan has a population of 250 million and holds elections in a single phase. What is the need for three phases here? What kind of design is being implemented in Kashmir?” he asked.

Niazi claimed that protesters were killed in Kashmir and their bodies were forced to disappear. He urged the authorities not to treat Kashmir in such a manner, saying that AJK was the base camp of Kashmir’s freedom movement and the prevailing situation was sending the wrong message to the world.

“We used to send Kashmiri delegations all over the world. We would sit in the UN and outside the British Parliament to highlight the atrocities committed against Kashmiris in Occupied Kashmir. Today we are no longer able to show our faces because of what is happening in Azad Kashmir,” he said.

Also read: PPP slams AJK Election Commission, says it is ‘equally responsible for rigging’ during polls

Niazi lashed out at the government over the violence in the region and urged authorities to change their approach, saying AJK could not tolerate the use of force to suppress those who raised their voices.

“There should never have been force used there,” he said.

“The eyes of the whole world are on Kashmir. Our eternal enemy, India, is promoting its Akhand Bharat narrative to the world. Will we hand Kashmir to it on a platter? We must change this approach,” the former prime minister said.

He said the PTI had boycotted the elections because it knew they would be “controversial and pre-arranged”, and claimed it had already been decided that the government would be handed over to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and that the existing system would continue in the same manner.

Niazi described the polls as “fake” and demanded the formation of a national government in the region until the situation returned to normal, after which free and transparent elections should be held in which the PTI would also participate.

He claimed that the people of AJK had categorically rejected the recent election and urged the authorities to handle the matter with utmost care and resolve it through dialogue.

“Kashmiris are Pakistanis and their hearts beat with Pakistan. Some people are creating misunderstandings. There are no terrorists there. These are the same people who till yesterday were sitting across the table and presenting their demands. When the situation worsened, they suddenly became terrorists,” he said, appealing to the authorities not to aggravate the situation further and instead work to restore normalcy.

Meanwhile, Gohar criticized the recent election process, claiming that the July 27 election was “a fraud” on the people of the region.

“The election held on the 27th was witnessed by all of you. In the name of election, it was rigged. Everyone will now have to accept that using bullets and sticks, oppressing the people, silencing them and stopping them from protesting is not the solution to the problems. Listening to the people is democracy,” he said.

Condemning the recent situation in AJK, Gohar also criticized Pakistan Peoples Party and PML-N for politicizing the issue.

“We are openly stating that dead bodies were lying there, people were covered in blood and political parties were playing politics over it. One congratulated the other while the other complained that the election had been rigged against it,” he said, adding that the two parties had remained in power under the existing system for the past 40 years and had lost in their respective provinces.

He said the low turnout in the election itself reflected the public’s rejection of both parties.

“Such low voter turnout reflects a vote of no confidence in the whole system and in these two parties. It is a referendum against them,” Gohar said.

Describing the prevailing politics as driven by vested interests, he said it was hurting the Kashmir cause and urged all stakeholders to act with wisdom.

“Kashmir is very sensitive. Every Kashmiri is Pakistani and every Pakistani is Kashmiri. Kashmir will neither become Kashmore nor Lahore. Kashmir is Pakistan’s jugular vein and will remain its jugular vein and we will not allow any harm to come to its cause,” he said.

Gohar said his party condemned the bloodshed and firing on people during the recent elections, rejected the July 27 polls and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incidents.

He also demanded immediate cancellation of the remaining two phases of the elections scheduled for August 2 and August 10, called for the resignation of the AJK government and sought the formation of a national government.

“We demand that the national government proceed with wisdom, adopt dialogue, listen to the people’s issues and take necessary action,” he said, demanding free, fair and transparent elections across AJK in a single phase under the supervision of an independent and impartial Election Commission.