PoK residents protest renewed terrorist activity
ISLAMABAD, September 17, 2011
ANITA JOSHUA
=================================================
Ask Pakistan Army officers to stop militants crossing over
Residents of Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are reportedly up in arms over renewed terrorist activity in their area which used to be the staging post for terrorists entering Jammu & Kashmir through the 1990s. Their fear is that the presence of terrorists and subsequent efforts to push them into India would once again put the area in the crossfire of India-Pakistan rivalry over Kashmir.
A local civil society organisation ‘Press for Peace (PFP)' claimed that a large number of women protested last weekend against the recent activities of some banned jihadi groups in the Neelum Valley.
According to the PFP, the women also approached the Pakistan Army in Athmuqam – the district headquarters of Neelum Valley – and urged the officers to stop the “militants” from crossing into the Indian side of Kashmir. They fear that terrorist activity in their area would once again adversely affect the relative peace that has prevailed on both sides of the Line of Control since the 2003 ceasefire. Memories of regular crossfire along the LoC are still fresh as the Neelum Valley lies right in the line of fire of the Indian forces manning the LoC.
Locals, as per PFP, have been complaining about the sudden presence of some outsiders — Punjabi-speaking men — in Dodnial village over the past couple of weeks. Though the local administration has dismissed them as mere tourists, their continued presence is causing alarm.
Series of protests
The weekend protest was just one in a series of such demonstrations that residents of the area — particularly Athmuqam — have been staging since the Eid break last month when there was a ceasefire violation. Pakistan said three of its soldiers had been killed in unprovoked firing from the Indian side while India claimed that it was foiling an infiltration bid in which one jawan lost his life.
Last Friday's jumma prayers were followed by a demonstration to condemn the ceasefire violation. Under the banner of the Neelum Valley Peace March, locals questioned the establishment of sanctuaries in their area under the garb of religious and welfare activities. These protests are apparently in keeping with a resolution passed two days after the ceasefire violation in which locals resolved not to allow any non-state element to use their area for cross-border terrorist activity.
=================================================
Ask Pakistan Army officers to stop militants crossing over
Residents of Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are reportedly up in arms over renewed terrorist activity in their area which used to be the staging post for terrorists entering Jammu & Kashmir through the 1990s. Their fear is that the presence of terrorists and subsequent efforts to push them into India would once again put the area in the crossfire of India-Pakistan rivalry over Kashmir.
A local civil society organisation ‘Press for Peace (PFP)' claimed that a large number of women protested last weekend against the recent activities of some banned jihadi groups in the Neelum Valley.
According to the PFP, the women also approached the Pakistan Army in Athmuqam – the district headquarters of Neelum Valley – and urged the officers to stop the “militants” from crossing into the Indian side of Kashmir. They fear that terrorist activity in their area would once again adversely affect the relative peace that has prevailed on both sides of the Line of Control since the 2003 ceasefire. Memories of regular crossfire along the LoC are still fresh as the Neelum Valley lies right in the line of fire of the Indian forces manning the LoC.
Locals, as per PFP, have been complaining about the sudden presence of some outsiders — Punjabi-speaking men — in Dodnial village over the past couple of weeks. Though the local administration has dismissed them as mere tourists, their continued presence is causing alarm.
Series of protests
The weekend protest was just one in a series of such demonstrations that residents of the area — particularly Athmuqam — have been staging since the Eid break last month when there was a ceasefire violation. Pakistan said three of its soldiers had been killed in unprovoked firing from the Indian side while India claimed that it was foiling an infiltration bid in which one jawan lost his life.
Last Friday's jumma prayers were followed by a demonstration to condemn the ceasefire violation. Under the banner of the Neelum Valley Peace March, locals questioned the establishment of sanctuaries in their area under the garb of religious and welfare activities. These protests are apparently in keeping with a resolution passed two days after the ceasefire violation in which locals resolved not to allow any non-state element to use their area for cross-border terrorist activity.
=================================================
.thehindu.com/news/international/article2462777.ece
No comments:
Post a Comment