Indian move: Construction of wall along LoC, working boundary slammed

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers stand guard along fencing near the India-Pakistan border outpost. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

MUZAFFARABAD: A protest rally was held here on Sunday against the Indian plan of construction of a concrete wall along the Line of Control (LoC) and the working boundary in Sialkot sector.

The rally was jointly organised by the Kashmiri refugees of 1989 and the Pasban-e-Hurriyat- a local organisation working in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for the Kashmir cause.

The construction is part of a plan India is working on to construct 41-metre-long and 10-metre high concrete wall along the LoC and 197-kilometre-long wall along the working boundary in Sialkot sector.

The protesters carrying banners and placards marched from the Central Press Club to Gharipan Chowk shouting anti-India slogans like “We want freedom” and “go India go”.

While addressing the rally, Chairman Pasban-e-Hurriyat Uzair Ghazali said that India was following the footprints of Israel to divide Kashmiris permanently as the latter did with Palestinians.

“The construction along the LoC is not only violation of international laws but also a direct attack on the United Nations that has declared the region a disputed territory,” said Ghazali.

Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference leader Mushtaqul Islam said that India has occupied the state of Jammu and Kashmir at gunpoint and now it was constructing another “Berlin wall” to divide the Kashmiris straddle the region. “This illegal construction is unacceptable for the Kashmiris living across the LoC,” he said.

Islam urged Kashmiri and Pakistani leaders to protest against the illegal construction of the wall.

Meanwhile, AJK Finance Minister Chaudhry Latif Akbar addressing at a press conference slammed the Indian move saying the AJK government after consultation with the federal government will raise the issue at international forums to put pressure on India to halt the construction.