Exiled PoK activists hold anti-Pak protest outside European Parliament

Brussels [Belgium], Oct 24 (ANI): Exiled political activists from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) gathered outside the European Parliament in Brussels to protest against alleged Pakistan-sponsored atrocities and plundering of resources in the region.
Disgruntled PoK activists shouted slogans against Islamabad, blaming it for the construction of the Neelum- Jhelum hydropower project and Diamer Bhasha dam that have not only severely affected the flora and fauna of the region but have left the common people reeling under abject poverty.
Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) said, "Today, we are here in Brussels in front of European Parliament demonstrating against the plundering of the natural resources of Kashmiri people. We are here to protest against the state brutality and for the people who are suffering because of the policies of the government of Pakistan. We are actually protesting against their policies, their nefarious designs and we are protesting in favour of rule of law, in favour of democracy and safety of the human rights".
Jamil Maqsood, a UKPNP activist, claimed: "The fundamental purpose of this demonstration was to highlight the human rights violations in the Pakistan administered Kashmir and occupied Gilgit Baltistan because Pakistan is constructing Neelum Jhelum hydropower project and Diamer Bhasha dam in Gilgit Baltistan and both these areas people have been asked to leave their properties and leave their land without paying them any alternative land and without paying them any compensation".
"In Muzaffarabad, they have diverted River Neelum which is at the brink of extinction. It is completely destroyed and approximately hundreds of thousands of people in Neelum, Muzaffarabad and other lower riparian areas have been (are) deprived of basic necessity of water," he added.
Another political activist from PoK, Nasir Aziz Khan, urged the international community to come forward and help people in the region. "We have no media in our area and unfortunately international community has no sufficient information about our sufferings and miseries. Pakistan must respect human rights, rule of law and she must stop plundering our natural resources," he said.
Activists from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mohajirs also joined the protest to raise human rights violations stating that Islamabad has employed similar repressive patterns in their provinces.
Natives and activists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh province have, time and again, blamed Pakistan of according second class citizen treatment to the people of these regions.
This diabolic pattern of suppressing its own people, the activists claim, has witnessed a significant escalation since the advent of the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). (ANI)