Overshadowed by the news of Taliban takeover of Kabul, the staged-up Presidential election in Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) that led to the victory of Barrister Sultan Mahmud went unnoticed.
Sultan Mahmud won the election for presidency of PoJK by scoring 34 votes against the joint opposition candidate Mian Abdul Waheed at the legislative assembly held on August 17.
Mahmud had won the Mirpur constituency LA-3 during the PoJK wide general elections held on July 25. He is expected to take oath on Tuesday.
Mahmud was anticipated to become the prime minister but to everyone's surprise, another newcomer to PTI, Abdul Qayyum Niazi, who shares the same surname as that of Prime Minister Imran Khan, was the jack that sprung out of the selection box.
ALSO READ | India Must Urgently Make Efforts To Be An Honest Broker In US-Iran Relations
Currently, PoJK is suffering from shortages of clean water, electricity and flour, not to mention broken roads, collapse of health and education services. However, none of these social issues were part of the election campaign run jealously by the contending political parties. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that basic issues concerning living conditions in the occupied territory were ignored.
For 70 years, the people of PoJK have been indoctrinated with the two-nation theory of Jinnah that caused the break up of Hindustan into Bharat and Pakistan. Academic curriculum has thus been designed keeping in mind that not a single word is mentioned about the attack of the tribal Lashkar and the Pakistan army on October 22, 1947 on the independent state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Terrorists that are sent into the valley to create mayhem are portrayed as heroes and those who are killed by the Indian security forces are referred to as martyrs. Hence, under the ideological hegemony of Islamic jihadist narrative, there is hardly any thing else to talk about during public events and election campaigns other than to spew hate against India.
All of the above was evident in PoJK during the July 25 election campaign. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Pakistan People's Party and Tehreek e Insaf, all Pakistan-based political parties, talked about political issues relating to Pakistani politics and who could better represent the Kashmir issue at international forums.
ALSO READ | Time For A Progressive Law On Online Gaming - Lessons From Tamil Nadu
Since PoJK-based indigenous political groups and political parties are not allowed to contest election, none of the local political voices were echoed. Political parties, which seek independence from Pakistan, cannot contest elections in PoJK since each candidate is required to sign an oath of allegiance to Pakistan and loyalty to Pakistan's version of Islamic ideology. No wonder so many of the common citizens of PoJK remained aloof from the election process.
On July 26, just one day after the elections were held in PoJK, Pakistan army jawans opened fire, killing at least one and injuring at least 25 people, including local policemen.
The clash took place after a military vehicle carrying the soldiers broke down in Sharda in Neelum valley. The soldiers flagged down a passing car and dragged women passengers out of a vehicle demanding that they be transported to their camp.
A group of young men then interfered and asked the soldiers to call another military vehicle to take them. This led to a heated argument between the soldiers and the men during which the soldiers opened fire.
This is just one incident that I have brought to the attention of my readers. Every day, there are clashes, strikes, sit-in and protests in PoJK that go unreported due to self-censorship. In the coming days when the newly-elected puppet legislative assembly sits in for session and both the prime minister and president of the occupied territory begin to facilitate their true masters, i.e., the Pakistan military establishment, more unrest is expected.
As the Afghan Taliban takeover the ill-fated capital of Afghanistan, the struggle of the oppressed people of PoJK and PoGB should not go unnoticed.
(Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lives in exile in the UK. The views expressed are personal)
