ISLAMABAD/MUZAFFARABAD: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa on Monday reaffirmed support for Kashmir’s freedom struggle.

Speaking to troops on the Line of Control (LoC) on Independence Day, Gen Bajwa said: “Indian Army’s atrocities have not been able to deter the spirit and sacrifices of the brave Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir. We will always stand with them in their just struggle against repression.”

The army chief had on Sunday night hoisted the largest and tallest flag in South Asia at the Wagah border crossing, where he recalled the sacrifices of the martyrs and vowed to foil the enemies’ conspiracies against the country.

Pakistan has always diplomatically, politically and morally supported the Kashmir movement. Ever since the start of the latest phase of the uprising in India-held Kashmir last year, Pakistan has been highlighting the atrocities being committed there.

COAS visits LoC as India continues ceasefire violation

Hundreds of Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian security forces since last July, when the uprising started after the killing of a young leader, Burhan Wani, whereas thousands have been severely injured.

The government has been urging the international community to stop India from killing, maiming and deliberately blinding Kashmiri people and abusing women.

Alongside the human rights violations in the valley, India has intensified ceasefire violations on the LoC to distract world attention from the abuses. This year India has violated the LoC truce some 600 times, in which at least 34 civilians lost their lives.

Indian belligerence, Pakistan fears, is endangering regional peace and stability.

Gen Bajwa was briefed during his visit to the LoC on the spike in ceasefire violations by India and the response by Pakistani troops.

The army chief was informed that Pakistani troops’ response was being restrained by their professional ethos which barred them from targeting civilians in the wake of similar actions by Indian troops from across the LoC.

According to the ISPR, the military’s public relations wing, while lauding the “motivation and spirit of the troops”, Gen Bajwa said there was no better way to celebrate independence than defending the country.

Two injured

As the COAS visited the LoC in an unspecified sector, two civilians were injured in Poonch district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir when Indian troops attacked a vehicle.

“A Suzuki van was coming to Hajira from Goi (Kotli) when it was targeted by Indian troops near Madarpur at about 2pm, without any provocation,” police officer Muhammad Shakeel told Dawn from the area.

“As a result, two persons on board the vehicle were injured,” he said, identifying the victims as Musharraf Iqbal and Hafiz Naveed. The former, who suffered a bullet wound in the right leg, was taken to Hajira for treatment, while the latter, hit in the chest, was admitted to the Kotli District Headquarters Hospital, the police officer said.

According to residents, Indian soldiers not only attack civilian houses but also vehicles in AJK along the LoC.

In November last year, 12 passengers were killed when a transport vehicle was attacked by Indian troops with mortars in Neelum Valley.

Hardly three weeks after that incident, a school van was hit in the Nakyal sector of Kotli district, leaving its driver dead and eight students wounded.

Last month, four soldiers embraced martyrdom when their truck was hit by Indian troops in Neelum Valley.

According to AJK State Disaster Management Authority chief Zaheeruddin Qureshi, 39 civilians were killed and another 132 injured in Indian shelling in AJK last year.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2017