PoK protesters 'enemies like India', says Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif amid widespread violence
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "PoK protesters 'enemies like India', says Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif amid widespread violence")
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won nine of the 13 seats in the first phase of elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to preliminary results.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday (July 28) defended killing and firing at protesters in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) during polling. Justifying the governments crackdown, Asif said he views the protesters in PoK as enemies, just like India.
"I put the protesters of Azad Kashmir in the same category as India and consider them also as enemies like India," the Pakistani defence minister said.
This comes amid the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) saying at least 14 of its activists were killed and more than two dozen injured in clashes with law enforcement personnel during polling.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won nine of the 13 seats in the first phase of elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to preliminary results released by the region's Election Commission on Tuesday.
‘Cosmetic exercise’, says India
India does not recognise the elections, calling them an attempt by Islamabad to legitimise its illegal occupation of the region.
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India on Tuesday criticised the legislative assembly elections in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK), calling the exercise a "cosmetic" attempt by Islamabad to legitimise its "illegal occupation" of the region.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made the remarks during the regular media briefing while referring to the ongoing protests in PoJK. He said the demonstrations reflected widespread public dissatisfaction over governance and economic conditions.
"The current cosmetic electoral exercise is nothing but an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its grave human rights violations in the region. As we have stated earlier, the ongoing mass protest in PoJK, of which you are aware, is the direct consequence of economic exploitation, its denial of fundamental rights to the people and its administrative operations," said Jaiswal.
