- Thursday, February 27, 2025
Shabir Choudhry, a Kashmiri activist, has voiced the concerns of the general public who blamed Islamabad for the massive protests that have swept the region.
By: Shubham Ghosh
MASSIVE anti-Pakistan protests are raging across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the part of Jammu and Kashmir which has been under the country’s control since 1947. People across cities, towns and villages of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have taken to the streets against the skyrocketing inflation, shortage of food and imposition of excessive taxes.
Shabir Choudhry, a Kashmiri activist, has voiced the concerns of the general public who blamed Islamabad for the massive protests that have swept the region.
In a video he posted on social media recently, Choudhry disclosed that the people in PoK are grappling with high inflation, load shedding, food insecurity and unreasonable tax imposition, among several other concerns.
He also admitted that the people in PoK are seeking help from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to free them from Pakistan’s ‘illegal occupation’.
He said, “Pakistan is perturbed over this but the most astonishing thing I got to hear, the people residing near the Line of Control (LoC) in PoK raised slogans, ‘Ask Modi (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) to get us freedom from Pakistan’s illegal occupation!’ and save our souls, we are dying of hunger, please come here and help us out’.”
He slammed Islamabad for systematically exploiting their resources, corruption and wrong policies of the establishment.
He said that people in PoK are forced to pay high electricity bills despite the region producing maximum electricity.
The cost of electricity in cash-strapped Pakistan has doubled in the last three months resulting in widespread anger and protests. In PoK, the people are even suffering due to heavy taxes on wheat flour and other necessities.
Kashmiris say that the government of Pakistan has consistently treated the residents of PoK and Gilgit Baltistan as second-class citizens, in stark contrast to the favoured province of Punjab.
(With ANI inputs)
