By Ambassador Jeitendra Tripathi
a 6 mins read.
Soaring Prices
After the four-day violent protest, which left four dead and more than injured in Pak-Occupied Kashmir (POK), the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced three immediate measures to assuage the situation for the time being- firstly, Pakistan Rupees 2,300 crore (US$ 8.26 crore) immediate relief, secondly, reduction of electricity tariff by 50 percent and thirdly, slashing the price of bread. Though these measures have been able, for the time being, to suspend the agitation, the unrest might erupt again if the federal government fails to address the core issues.
These protests cannot be branded as politically motivated or engineered by India (as the Sharif government will certainly allege soon) as now two-month-old agitation has been spear-headed by the local traders reeling under the soaring price of electricity and essential commodities. The protests began after the arrest of 70 striking members of J & K JAAC (Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee). Pak Rangers resorted to lathi-charge and firing to quell the protests, but it apparently backfired.
Pakistan, already suffering from the economic meltdown, can ill afford to have another province permanently erupt in protests after the troubled Baluchistan. At the core of the problem in POK has been the uninterrupted neglect of the province by the rulers despite their tall claims of the region belonging to Pakistan and naming it “Azad Kashmir.” POK, with an area of 13,297 square Kilometres and approximately 40,45,000 population, does not have any significant export-based industry.
Boundless Scope
Dry dates, rock salt, cement, and gypsum were being exported to India, but that was also discontinued when Pakistan decided to sever trade relations with India, thus draining out the major source of income for POK. Despite the scenic beauty of the region, the tourism industry was always neglected by the powers that be in Islamabad. This step-motherly treatment of a region replete with natural and mineral wealth and boundless scope of development of tourism has frustrated the residents beyond the limits of meek tolerance.
The POK Government is accused of diverting a major chunk of the funds allocated for the development of the province to payment of increased salaries for the colossal provincial cabinet (the POK cabinet has more than fifty ministers) and unusually large and corrupt bureaucracy. Shaukat Nawaz Mir, President of the Joint Awami Action Committee, has claimed that there were hardly any funds left for the developmental work. 
This was corroborated implicitly by the premier of POK, Chaudhary Anwar-ul- Haque who accepted that since the disbursement of salaries to Government employees could not be withheld, developmental work had to wait. Mir also claimed that despite accounting for more than 20 percent of the total power generated in Pakistan, POK receives not even 30 percent of what it needs as most of the power generated in the region goes to Punjab and for the use of more than 20,000 Chinese staying in the province for CPEC- related work.
The Joint Awami Action Committee also claimed that the electricity tariff in POK was much higher than elsewhere in Pakistan, unemployment was rampant, and even wheat flour was being sold at the rate of Pakistan Rupees 700 per kilogram against Pakistan Rupees 200 per kilogram in Punjab and Sindh. The credibility of these allegations is doubtless; otherwise, Shahbaz Sharif would not have announced the slashing of prices in the region. It is not that there are no business opportunities in POK.
Gross Neglect
Even though the population of POK has basically been agrarian, the Geological Survey of Pakistan boosts the presence of coal, marble, copper, mica, bauxite, soapstone, fire clay in sizable quantities, and gold, uranium, and arsenic in the region. However, the “Azad Kashmir Council” does not mention any metallurgical industry in POK except Siraz Steels. This amply substantiates the gross neglect of the industrial development of the region by the puppet provincial government and its master, the federal government of Pakistan.
Though the problems in the POK have now come to the forefront, Pakistan, in general, is reeling under the high inflation (24.7 percent despite various rescue trenches by IMF), dismal growth rate (less than two percent for the current fiscal year according to IMF), dwindling FOREX reserves (less than US$ 13 billion as on 31 March 2024) and soaring unemployment (over eight percent). While the public of Pakistan, in general, is finding it difficult to make ends meet, the corrupt leadership, utterly selfish bureaucracy, privileged Armed forces, and fanatic clergy are having a field day.
According to E24 (a Norwegian outlet), OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), and “Dubai Unlocked”, an estimated 17,000 Pakistani nationals own 23,000 properties in UAE with a combined value of US$ 11 billion. The list of these persons, as revealed by Pakistan’s leading daily “The Dawn” in its May 13 issue, gives a virtual tour of the country’s who is who. It includes the three children of Asif Zardari-Bilawal, Bakhtiyar and Asifa, son of Nawaz Sharif, late Parvez Musharraf, former PM Shaukat Aziz, son of former Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, two former chief ministers of Baluchistan, many members of the National Assembly and State assemblies and a horde of leading businesspersons who have invested in huge real estates.
Some of the leaders, according to the newspaper, have shamelessly admitted owning these properties but claimed that they had acquired these by ‘legal means. These revelations have further angered the protesting public of POK. In an interview at a YouTube channel of Pakistan named “Real Entertainment TV”, some of the protesters can also be heard demanding the demolition of the border fences between the two Kashmir so that they can move to a more developed Indian side!
Future Indefinite
What should be the Indian response to the explosive situation in POK? The Government of India has not issued any official statement, though External Minister S. Jaishankar has reiterated that POK was ours and will always remain ours. However, the reaction by many Indian leaders (mostly from the ruling coalition) has been more aggressive. Some have declared that we will take POK forcibly. Even PM Modi has gone overboard with his now-viral “bangle” statement during an election rally. Claiming the POK to be ours is alright, as the
POK is indeed ours, but going beyond this and resolving that the POK will be annexed by force is, though good for kindling the public sentiments during the election time, should be avoided in diplomacy. India should not and need not react to these developments in POK as Pakistan is harming itself with its misguided, narrow, India-centric, and counter-productive domestic and foreign policies. Contemporary Pakistan does not need an enemy to blame, as it has proved to be its enemy. Using the jargon of English Grammar, Pakistan can be described as a country with a past imperfect, present tense, and future indefinite. If things remain as they are, Pakistan is heading to a repeat of 1971 due to its own doing.
(Ambassador Jeitendra Tripathi, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Zimbabwe. He has vast experience of Africa, Europe, Middle-East and latin America. He was also India’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The News Analytics Journal)
