In the wake of increasing ceasefire violations of the Line of Control by Indian army, resulting in the losses of civilians lives the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has readied an evacuation plan to relocate the local population to safe areas. Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has directed the district administration and local authorities in the areas located along the Line of Control (LOC) to make standby arrangements for relocating thousands of people whose lives have become under direct threat after the escalated tension on the border. The people living in the villages who are directly affected by the Indian military firing have been relocated on a small scale. Further, the evacuation activities would be extended further if LOC ceasefire violations did not stop.
The frequency of ceasefire violation by Indian army has increased since the start of this month in the Battal, Ralwakot, Kotli and Khuiratta sectors. Apart from firing on civilian population, school vans and ambulances carrying patients are directly targeted. This is part of India’s deliberate strategy to mount tension along the LOC and working boundary at time the ruling party in Pakistan has created instability through its policy of confrontation with state institutions. Once a former Indian Director General of Military Operation General ® PS Mehta wondered in a talk show on a Pakistani private TV Channel that why in Nawaz Sharif governments Pak- India relations get worse? He elaborated that in the second tenure of his government the battle of Kargal occurred and in his third tenure ceasefire violations are on the rise, whereas in the government of President Musharraf there was peace on the borders and the process of composite dialogue was moving ahead.
A few days ago, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat issued a threat of giving Pakistan a reply “sooner than later” in response to February 10 attack on a military camp allegedly by the militants of Jaish-e- Muhammad (JeM). He said several options including surgical strikes inside Pakistan are on the table. In a similar tone and tenor, Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Raman alleged that Pakistan backed up attackers of Suicide attack in ‘Sujuwan’and it will pay for its misadventure. Ironically, Pakistani civilian leadership has kept itself oblivious of the rising tension on LOC and is busy day in and day out in giving statements about non-issues and on domestic politics. Talking to media in Lahore, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, while making a reference to the statementof Indian Army Chief, took a broad side of the most venerated judiciary. In a ridiculing manner, he said that a process of target killing has been started in the national politics and political surgical strikes are on in the country. At this critical point of time, the Defense Minister Khurram Dastagir is in hibernation and the Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif has made a shameful statement on the marriage of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The government of Azad Jamu and Kashmir has realized the gravity of the situation. The Prime Minister, Raja Farooq Haider has firmed up a relocation of civilians plan. The outstanding diplomat President of AJK Mahmood Khan has already met with the Chief of Army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and has discussed the ceasefire violations along LOC. He has now gone abroad on a diplomatic mission to sensitize the world opinion on the atrocities in the Indian held Kashmir and India’s aggressive posturing against Pakistan. It was the duty of Pakistan civilian leadership to have embarked upon a proactive diplomacy in Washington, London and other and other important capitals of western countries, for which they are not even least inclined to do.
