Pakistan defence minister says PoK protesters ‘enemies' like India, rules out dialogue

Terming protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as "enemies" like India, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said there will be no dialogue with them, even as the death toll due to clashes between demonstrators and security personnel rose to 20 on Wednesday, July 29.

At least 20 activists of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) have been killed and dozens injured in clashes with law enforcement personnel in PoK since Monday, the organisation said on Wednesday, July 29.

Law enforcement authorities, however, disputed the death toll and accused protesters of opening fire on security personnel.

"There will be no dialogue with the protesters. I bracket them with India. I put them in the same category as India and consider them as enemies of Pakistan," Asif told reporters on Tuesday.

Separately, the Prime Minister's Adviser Rana Sanaullah told reporters that the JAAC held a meeting with him and presented its 38 demands.

Alleging that the protesters want to seize Muzaffarabad and Mirpur through force, Sanaullah on Tuesday claimed that they were currently engaged in an “India-like attack”.

Sanaullah claimed that no one was killed in clashes between the law enforcement personnel and protesters.

Meanwhile, shops and markets in Mirpur remained closed on Wednesday, BBC Urdu reported.

In the first phase of elections on Monday, July 27, held in 13 seats to the so-called legislative assembly of PoK, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secured nine seats. The second and third phases of the remaining 32 seats will be held on August 2 and 10, respectively.

It is a direct contest between the two in PoK because former prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has boycotted the polls.

The first phase of the election was marred by violence and massive rigging allegations. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is in coalition with PML-N at the Centre, alleged that the PML-N was gifted the majority of seats in the polls through massive rigging.

The JAAC has been holding a series of protests in PoK since last month over 12 contentious seats of the so-called regional legislative assembly. It alleges that the establishment manoeuvres these seats to install a prime minister of its choosing.

India on Tuesday, July 27, described the elections as an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its "grave" human rights violations in the region.

"India's position on this matter has been clear, consistent, and well known. The entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan's illegal and forcible occupation, are integral and inalienable parts of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in Delhi.

"As we have stated earlier, the ongoing mass protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir are the direct consequences of Pakistan's economic exploitation, its denial of the people's fundamental rights, and its administrative oppression," he said.

The JAAC, which held a long march from Rawalakot towards the regional capital Muzaffarabad on Monday, claimed that its activists were killed when law-enforcement personnel opened fire on participants of the march. The party's claim could not be independently verified.

JAAC core committee member Abid Shaheen told BBC that around a dozen activists had been killed and more than 20 wounded during clashes on Monday.

Another committee member, Imtiaz Aslam, said those killed included Usman Nazir, younger brother of JAAC founding member Umar Nazir.

Shaheen claimed the bodies had been taken to a medical camp near Drek, where the JAAC has been staging a sit-in for one-and-a-half months.

The JAAC also denied that its marchers were armed, saying they carried only sticks. The claim was rejected by PoK police chief Captain (retd.) Liaquat Ali Malik, who alleged that protesters possessed modern weapons and were targeting security personnel.

Malik said the reported deaths could not be verified until bodies were recovered, officially recorded or brought to hospitals for post-mortem examinations.

The JAAC began protests and a long march across PoK on June 9. Before Monday’s violence, 40 people had reportedly been killed during the unrest, including 34 protesters and six police and paramilitary personnel.

The government had opened negotiations with the JAAC to end the protests before the legislative assembly elections, but the talks have so far failed to yield a settlement.

The authorities have suspended internet services in the region. Besides, there has been a complete media ban in Pakistan on the coverage of the JAAC protest.

There are 53 seats in the so-called PoK legislative assembly - 45 are directly elected, while eight are reserved for women, technocrats and clerics.