On the eve of the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, a move that stripped the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has released a new political map, making sovereign claims on the entire Jammu and Kashmir and the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh in Gujarat.
BIG: Pakistan Govt announces Indian Union Terrotories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as part of new official political man of Pakistan. This means Pakistan now doesn’t believe Kashmir as a disputed territory and rubbishes so called self-determination of people in Kashmir. Huge. pic.twitter.com/TuxWuk2FpO
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 4, 2020
Terming it a historic day, Pakistan PM Imran Khan unveiled the new political map, adding that the new political map of Pakistan represents the ambition of Pakistani nationals.
Along with a fresh map, Pakistan has also issued directives to be followed on August 5. The day August 5 has been termed as Youm-e-Istehsal and Ghasbana Qabza, the press release read.
The statement also called for the use of IIOJK and not IOJK or IOK. It said that the term used to represent Jammu and Kashmir henceforth should be “Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir” as opposed to “Indian Occupied Kashmir”. It also added that ‘illegal action’ should be used in place of illegal annexation. The instructions issued said that ‘demographic apartheid’ can be used about Jammu and Kashmir instead of demographic re-engineering.
Furthermore, all TV and Radio channels have been asked to play Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir national anthems immediately after one minute of silence on August 5. The TV channels have been instructed to have their news presenters wear black bands for solidarity and their channel logos be turned black to oppose the first anniversary of the invalidation of Article 370. The theme, the communiqué said, would be one year of Indian Military Siege in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan casts aside self-determination of Kashmiris
While India couldn’t care less about Pakistan’s cartographical changes and its juveniles attempts of tinkering with the nomenclature of Jammu and Kashmir, it is of profound significance that Pakistan has, for the first time, relinquished its longstanding notion of Jammu and Kashmir being a disputed territory and ipso facto spurned the self-determination of people in Kashmir.
