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Following the Joint Awami Action Committee's announcement for a sit-in on September 29, Pakistan-occupied Jammu-Kashmir (PoJK) Activist Amjad Ayub Mirza strongly condemned the decision of the authorities to deploy 567 platoons of the reserve police force in a desperate attempt to suppress the peaceful protests.
Mirza said that the order to mobilise over 30,000 police personnel, with an additional 17,000 kept in reserve, is nothing short of a declaration of war against the people of PoJK. According to Amjad Ayub Mirza, the sit-in announced by the Joint Awami Action Committee on September 29 is a "peaceful political movement, yet the state has responded with the largest police deployment in the history of PoJK ." Mirza stated that instead of addressing the genuine demands of the people, the government has chosen the path of intimidation, militarisation, and brute force. Amjad Ayub Mirza further cautioned that the decision to criminalise peaceful demonstrators by surrounding them with 86 platoons in Muzaffarabad, 77 in Bagh, 62 in Rawalakot, and numerous others in different districts will only exacerbate the situation and highlight the authoritarian attitude of Islamabad and its representatives in Muzaffarabad. He insisted that this order showcases the state's apprehension towards the unity of the people and its failure to engage in meaningful political dialogue. He asserted that the residents of PoJK cannot be silenced by coercion, and history will recall this as a moment when the government attempted to suppress democratic rights through unparalleled police mobilisation. Amjad Ayub Mirza concluded by urging the international community to recognise this authoritarian repression and to stand with the people of PoJK in their pursuit of justice and dignity. Earlier, Amjad Ayub Mirza accused the Pakistan Army of carrying out a large-scale military offensive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the pretext of a "cleanup operation" against terrorists, targeting innocent civilians and forcing mass displacement. Speaking via a video message, Amjad Ayub Mirza alleged that locals in various districts, including North and South Waziristan as well as Bajaur, have been given just three days to harvest their crops and abandon their homes. He warned that the real motive behind these orders is to depopulate Pashtun villages situated on resource-rich lands containing gas, gold, copper, uranium, and lithium. (ANI)
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