Thousands gather in PoK to protest against Pakistan Army; accuse it of 'rigging' polls

With Pakistan's attempt to hold elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) marred with reports of rigging and violence, protests erupted onto the streets of PoK as thousands marched against the Pakistan Army accusing them of election manipulation. The protests come after Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the elections with 25 out of the 45 seats that went to the polls. A large number of citizens from PoK gathered to protest against the Pakistan Army on Monday accusing them of interfering in the election process and rigging the results in favor of PTI.

Opposition dubs elections 'rigged'

Apart from the citizens of PoK, the election verdict in favor of Imran Khan has also been rejected by the Opposition. Several parties such as Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have claimed that the process was 'rigged.' When it comes to the Opposition, the Pakistan people's party (PPP) won 11 seats, the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 6 seats, and two regional parties, 1 seat each. Only 45 members are directly elected out of a 53-member PoK assembly. 

Meanwhile, PoK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has called the election 'a farce.' "The assembly elections were nothing but a farce exercise to hoodwink the people," he said in a statement.

Imran Khan's 'plebiscite' promise backfires?

This comes even as Imran Khan made tall promises to the people ahead of the PoK polls and vowed to hold an UN-sponsored plebiscite and allow PoK to join Pakistan or remain an independent nation if they wished. His statement was slammed by several opposition parties including the leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif who said that his remarks were 'damaging' for the Kashmir cause. 

"We will hold another referendum whereby Kashmiri people will be asked to decide whether they want to live with Pakistan or as an independent nation. Remember, the decision has to be made by the Kashmiris themselves. The day is not far when you will decide about your future status of your own free accord,” Imran Khan said.

India had last year rejected Pakistan's attempts to 'alter the status of these Indian territories' via the elections and has asserted that PoK is an undeniable part of India as per the legal, complete, and irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947.

(With Agency Inputs)