Activists of Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance (JKNIA) took to the streets in London to demand an end to the decades-long subjugation and economic depredation of the illegally occupied regions of Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The protest came at a time when Pakistan's Chief Justice Saqib Nisar was seeking donations for the construction of Diamer Bhasha dam - a mega project set to displace thousands of locals of Gilgit Baltistan - subsequently pushing them into a state of abject poverty. The protesters were carrying placards saying 'No to Diamer Dam' and 'Abolish terrorist charges against human rights activists in Gilgit Baltistan'. They also demanded the Islamabad establishment to keep its hands off the resources of the occupied region.
Mahmood Kashmiri, the Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance said, "Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar is here in the United Kingdom and he is going around the cities to fundraise for the Diamer Bhasha dam. Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance has protested against it. We ask him to resign from his office if he wants to do politics. We have also conveyed that Pakistan should not pursue the construction of a dam in Gilgit Baltistan as it is not a part of Pakistan. If Pakistan needs water and electricity then it should build dams in the country. Since it is a disputed territory, a project of this magnitude cannot be built and people of Kashmir are protesting against it. We want to say this to the Chief Justice of Pakistan that he should stay in his limits and his limits are confined to the boundaries of Pakistan. So he cannot execute his authority outside Pakistan."
The demonstrators made shocking allegations against Pakistan and stated that in order to meet its materialistic needs, Pakistan has been exploiting the occupied regions for decades. They further alleged that Pakistan has, on a number of occasions, claimed the region to be its own but has always accorded it a step motherly treatment.
Kashmiri further added, "Earlier also Pakistan had constructed the Mangla dam with the misuse and abuse of power. People have not been able to settle till date; they are living in the far-flung areas of Pakistan with a number of cases filed against them; arrests have been made, people have been killed. Pakistan is also a culprit of not providing compensation to our people."
People with objectivity who seek equal rights for Kashmiris are subjected to brute Pakistani force, according to the protestors. They further alleged that their voices are muzzled, they are implicated on false charges, abducted and killed after they become a challenge.
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Jamil Maqsood, United Kashmir People's National Party's (UKPNP) Secretary of Foreign Affairs remarked, "The people in Gilgit-Baltistan who raise their voice for human rights and environmental issues are subjected to inhuman treatment. These people are used as specimens to threaten others. People are suggested that they will also meet the same fate if they raise their voices against human rights violations, ownership of natural resources, development in the area or empowerment of common man or if they talk of constitutional rights."
They also claimed that oppressed Kashmiris have demanded the restoration of state subject rule of 1974 in Gilgit Baltistan as its abrogation has fostered a massive demographic shift in the region which activists accuse is being carried out under the command and courtesy of Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence.
Protesters believe that the years-long persistence of Kashmiri activists is paying-off lately with Pakistan getting exposed at various international platforms as activists refuse to bog down by twists and trickeries of Islamabad.