India maintains that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of
Washington: India has issued an objection to The New York Times (NYT) over its report on Islamabad’s bloody crackdown on protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Indian Embassy in the US criticised the phrasing of the illegally occupied Indian territory as “Pakistani Kashmir” in the headline of the US media report, calling it “misleading and incorrect.
The objection to the terminology came after the New York-based newspaper carried a report with the headline “Clashes Erupt in Pakistani Kashmir as Voting in Local Election Begins,” referring to violence in PoK during local elections.
“Misleading and incorrect headline by @nytimes. There is no Pakistani Kashmir, only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the embassy said in a post on X.
“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied parts of these territories and is now using violence against the occupied people,” it added.
India’s Stand On PoK
India maintains that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of it. New Delhi also asserts that Pakistan has been in “illegal and forcible occupation” of parts of these Union Territories.
Earlier this month, New Delhi noted that protests in PoK were a “direct consequence” of Islamabad’s decades-long “systemic exploitation and administrative oppression” in areas under its “forcible” occupation and criticised reported police brutality on the protesters.
What the NYT report said
The report criticised by India was on violent clashes that broke out in PoK’s Mirpur area as police confronted people from a civil rights group who had gathered to protest police violence in the region. The report referred to PoK as ‘Pakistani-administered Kashmir,’ noting that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent rights body, has called for “an immediate end to this cycle of violence” and urged an independent investigation into the reported deaths and injuries.
A brutal crackdown by Pakistani security forces on protesters in PoK this week has reportedly left more than 30 civilians dead and over 33 injured. The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has been leading the protests amid local body elections in the PoK.
The PoK has been witnessing massive protests since last month over inflated living costs, alleged administrative apathy and political discrimination, and atrocities against minorities.
Pakistani security forces used lethal force against the protesters during JAAC’s long march from Rawalakote to Muzaffarabad and the crackdown reportedly resulted in the deaths of over 30 civilians and left over 33 protesters injured, the sources said.
Among the deads is Usman Nazir, the brother of JAAC Central Committee member Umar Nazir, they said.
New Delhi on Tuesday described the elections in PoK as an attempt by Islamabad to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its “grave” human rights violations in the region.
