Kashmiris | Pakistan

The PPP on Wednesday took exception to a “sweeping statement” by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif regarding the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). In an interview on a TV show, the minister had said that Rawalakot — which has been in the grip of protests by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) — is “not Kashmir” and that he did not consider people from there Kashmiris. Asif had subsequently taken to X to clarify that “Kashmiriat is defined by the sacrifices and struggles waged over almost eight decades by Pakistanis, including Kashmiris and all others, not by birth certificates”. Speaking in the National Assembly on Wednesday, PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that such a “sweeping statement” should not be given under any circumstances, especially from such a “senior” official. He said that Asif’s remarks had hurt the sentiments of several people, adding that Azad Kashmir was a “sensitive area” and care needed to be taken before making remarks about it. He said that “water needed to be poured onto the fire”...

Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control, as well as those living in Pakistan and across the world, are observing the Kashmir Martyrs' Day on Sunday to pay tributes to the martyrs of July 13, 1931, and all Kashmiris who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

SRINAGAR: India should not do anything to alienate Kashmiris in its hunt for people who killed 26 people in Pahalgam last week, especially as residents of the India-held state have staged protests against that attack, chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday. The Indian authorities have demolished nine homes belonging to the families of suspected assailants as part of a crackdown after the April 22 killings of tourists. “We should not do anything to alienate the people after their spontaneous reaction (against the attack),” Omar Abdullah said at a session of the legislative assembly in Srinagar. “Guns can only control militancy, not finish it. It will only end when the people are with us. It seems people are now reaching that stage.” Some Kashmir residents have spoken out against the move by the authorities to destroy homes, like that of Rifat Sheikh. On Monday, she stood next to her razed kitchen, assessing the damage caused by explosives used by police to demolish the house. Police say her brother Asif i...