Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) The Human Rights Council (HRC) of Pakistan on Saturday condemned the statement made by the country’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, regarding the Kashmiri identity of the people of Rawalakot and Mirpur in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The criticism came after Asif, during a television interview, said that the residents of Rawalakot and Mirpur in PoK are “not proper Kashmiris”.

Reacting to the remarks, the rights body said that “individuals in state positions must exercise utmost responsibility, caution, and respect in matters of this nature”.

The HRC called on the Pakistan government to issue an appropriate clarification on the matter and take steps to ensure that such statements are not repeated in the future.

Launching a scathing attack on the Pakistani Defence Minister over his remarks, PoK leader Faisal Mumtaz Rathore took to social media platform X and said, “People of Jammu and Kashmir do not need validation of their identity from the Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif or anybody else for that matter. Boomers such as him and their antics are creating divisions instead of bringing people closer.”

Rathore said that the Pakistani Defence Minister, after noticing backlash for his “faux pas”, is now “covering up by finding faults” in governance issues in PoK.

“Sir, ask your higher-ups, and they’ll tell you how well we’ve governed. A more dignified act would be to address the elephant in the room and apologise for your original remarks instead of scapegoating our governance,” he added.

This comes amid intensifying protests in PoK, where dozens of innocent civilians lost their lives in a brutal crackdown by Pakistani security forces.

Several international human rights organisations, activists, and the Kashmiri diaspora across the globe have strongly condemned the killings of innocent civilians in PoK while calling for international attention to the alleged abuses in the region by Pakistani authorities.

Earlier this week, members of the Kashmiri diaspora in the UK staged a protest outside the British Parliament in London before marching to 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister, to denounce alleged food blockades and the killing of civilians in PoK by Pakistani forces.

During the demonstration, the protestors called on the UK government to intervene amid the grave human rights abuses in PoK.

Addressing the gathering, one of the protesters alleged that the food supplies and medicines were unable to reach several areas in PoK due to a blockade by Pakistani authorities, resulting in severe hardship for the residents.

“People are dying because of the hunger. People dying before they can reach the hospital. It’s totally unacceptable. You have more than a million Kashmiris living in the UK. You have responsibility here. You need to intervene for the sake of humanity,” he said, urging the British government to intervene and contact the Pakistani authorities.

–IANS

scor/khz