[DAWN] Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Monday said that by repealing the special status granted to Indian-Indian Kashmiree (IoK), New Delhi has lost its control over the territory in its entirety.Earlier today, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order. An indefinite curfew was imposed in IoK and elected leaders were put under house arrest.
By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire property in IoK and settle there permanently. Kashmiris as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Moslem-majority Kashmire with Hindu settlers.
In a presser held in Islamabad today, Haider said that New Delhi had always maintained that it had provided special status to IoK under Article 370 of India's constitution. "They [India] have lost their own stance through this move," he said, adding that a session of the AJK assembly had been summoned to discuss the situation.
"India has formally lost Kashmire today. We were never a part of India but today it has lost Ladakh, Jammu and the valley as well," he declared.
Kashmiris in IoK are "fighting for their lives", the AJK premier said, adding that he feared India "would commit a genocide" in the region.
IoK 2019-08-06 Pakistan says it will exercise all possible options to counter 'illegal steps' taken by India in IoK
IoK 2019-08-05 Indian Kashmir Dissolved.
IoK 2019-08-05 Former IoK chief ministers Mufti, Abdullah placed under house arrest; curfew-like restrictions imposed