Pakistan has cleverly altered demography of PoK: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat

Though Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is batting for friendly ties with India, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that the neighbouring country has changed the demography of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and eroded the identity of people on that side.

Rawat spoke about Kashmir and Pakitan while delivering the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Lecture. (Image: ANI)

New Delhi: Though Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is batting for friendly ties with India, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that the neighbouring country has changed the demography of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and eroded the identity of people on that side. Speaking to reporters, Rawat said, “Pakistan has very cleverly changed the complete demography of so-called Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. So, one is not very sure as to who is an actual Kashmiri, whom we're addressing these issues to.” “Is he a Kashmiri or a Punjabi who has come in there and occupied that area. People from Gilgit-Baltistan are also now being taken over gradually. So, if there is an identity between our side of Kashmiri and the other side, then the identity thing has gradually been eroded. That is an issue we have to look at,” Rawat said. Army chief rejected the proposal of sending back security forces back to barracks saying that it might give terrorists time to revamp their operations and also stressed on the fact that there is a need to maintain sustained pressure in order to control the situation in the area. “It should not happen that little bit of peace that we see and say, Oh, it is hunky dory and it is now time to return to the barracks and let things happen. This time will be used for revamping the network of the terrorists,” he said. During his lecture at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Centre, Rawat also objected over allowing funeral processions of terrorists. He said that these people glorify militants as martyrs and are encouraging more people to join the terrorist camps. “In a funeral procession when you make a martyr of a terrorist is what is possibly encouraging more people to join the terrorist ranks,” he added. Concluding his speech, the Army Chief said that there is need for a greater positive engagement with the youth to motivate them to remain off the street and the gun culture. Rawat also said that the Army will take maulvis of Kashmir on ‘Sadbhavna yatras’ to places like Ajmer Sharif and Agra to show them that there is no persecution of any religious minorities in India. The Army chief further during his speech credited the locals for successful operations against terrorists in Kashmir, saying they were providing ‘hard intelligence’. (With agency inputs)