Protests in PoK: ISI desperate as majority want accession to India

On Wednesday, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) witnessed massive protests after it was alleged that the ISI had rigged the election. Rigging elections in PoK to ensure that a pro Indian party does not come to power has been a regular occurrence PoK, but this year around, the ISI did go an extra mile.

Since the past year there have been several incidents in PoK where several thousands of people have taken to the streets and sought for an accession to India. Despite being suppressed by the ISI, the Pakistan army and their cronies in the Lashkar-e-Taiba which runs 42 camps in the region, the voice against Pakistan has grown extremely strong since the past year.

In fact last year a massive protest took place and went unreported due to a gag order on the media over there. An officer with the intelligence says that the protest was massive in nature in which thousands of people came to streets demanding that the region be under India.

What is worrying the ISI?

The ISI would always ensure that the same party ruling Pakistan is in power in PoK as well. Indian officials say that this time when elections were held on July 21, had the process been a fair one, there would be no way that the PML-N would have won.

Although the Pakistan government does have the power to dismiss any government in PoK without reason, the win by an opposition party which tows the Indian line would have been embarrassing and also a defeat.

The polls this time were rigged to such an extent that people were not allowed to vote. Only a handful of people leaning towards the PML-N were permitted to vote with a view of making it seem like a fair process.

In the areas such as Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Chinari and Mirpur no local was permitted to vote and this was evident in the manner in which the protests had erupted. In fact matters turned worse when a PML-N member killed a supporter of the Muslim Conference.

Indian officials closely monitoring the situation in PoK say that the ISI is getting desperate as the voice of the publica in favour of India is getting stronger.

In this context it would also be pertinent to note what the Chairman of the Anjuman Mihaj-e-Raasool, Moulana Syed Athar Hussain Dehlavi has to say on PoK. After touring the region he said that people of this region want to be part of India.

"The people are completely distressed with the growing extremism in Pakistan and want to lead a peaceful life. Given the opportunity they would want a referendum so that they could vote to join India back," he also said.

OneIndia News