PoK President claims no law against Quran, Sunnah exists in region

Muzaffarabad [PoK], July 4 : President of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mahmood on Sunday claimed that no law can be against the Quran and Sunnah in PoK.
According to News International, Mahmood was addressing a delegation of Ulema here. In his speech, he said, "Seerat Conference would be organised soon to re-examine whether there was any law in the PoK that contradicts the Quran and Sunnah."
He said, "There is a dire need to keep up the spirit to ensure religious and interfaith harmony."
Meanwhile, the living conditions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have been deteriorating over years.
Pakistani media reports said that Gilgit Baltistan has a dwindling population, able-bodied people migrating with their families wherever they get work and poor living conditions. One report alarmingly states that nine per cent of all suicides in Pakistan occur in GB.
Gilgit-Baltistan has just two hours of power available. In addition to this, it suffers food shortages and has no control over its hydropower or other resources.
Recently, People in Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan took to the streets against the prolonged load shedding and water scarcity amid scorching heat for the past four days, local media reported.
United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) led by Shaukat Ali Kashmiri on Friday staged a protest at the UN human rights head office in Geneva to highlight the atrocities being committed against the people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
It raised concerns about Pakistan's policy to use religion as a weapon and terrorism as a foreign policy tool while accusing Pakistan was using Kashmir as a launching pad for terrorism and training camps to suppress the secular, democratic and progressive voices of the entire region.
It demanded Pakistan change its policies and asked the country to take serious actions against the terrorist organisations and groups. It also demanded Pakistan should dismantle terrorist infrastructure from the Gilgit Baltistan region of PoK while raising concerns about the state of human rights and security situation in the former Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
UKPNP expressed concerns about growing extremism, violence and intolerance in various parts of the region, urging the controlling authorities to ensure the safety of all citizens and apprehend the culprits.
Last week, the PoK government presented a new budget of Rs 163.7 billion for the next fiscal year of 2022-23 in the legislative assembly amid a boycott by the combined opposition.
In the budget, the PoK government allocated Rs 28.5 billion for the development and Rs 135.2 billion for recurring expenses
PoK Finance Minister Abdul Majid Khan said that the PoK government demanded Rs 40 billion from the Pakistan government for the Annual Development Programme (ADP). However, Islamabad announced to allocate Rs 26.5 billion, though it later raised it to Rs 28.5 billion, including a foreign aid component of Rs 500 million, the Dawn reported.
Earlier, the central spokesperson of UKPNP, Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan also highlighted that Pakistan was using PoK as a terror launchpad. Jehadi organizations are being trained in these areas while Pakistan is aiding them in terrorism in the name of fighting terror, he said, adding that the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan proves this fact.
He said this during a conference on "Islamism and Human Rights in Pakistan" held in the Flemish Parliament at Leuvenseweg in Brussels. The other attendees condemned Pakistan for the extrajudicial killing of minorities.
It was also noted during the conference that Pakistan continued to exploit minorities due to which their population in the country has dipped to three per cent.
Notably, soon after British India's division in 1947, the Pakistan army, which largely comprised tribal mercenaries invaded and occupied a part of Jammu & Kashmir. PoK and Gilgit Baltistan remained under their occupation since then. The land, the resources and the people of the region have been overly exploited by Islamabad for many years.
While on one side, Pakistan has marginalized these people socially and politically, it has exploited all their resources indiscriminately. Their land and rivers are used to serve the people of Pakistan and not those who have a prerogative over them.