ISLAMABAD:
The unemployment rate in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) rose above 20 per cent for the ninth time, since the abrogation of Article 370 of Indian Constitution in August 2019.
According to an official source, the unemployment rate in IIOJK, a month before the August clampdown, was about 14.74 per cent but drastically rose in the next six months to 21.08 per cent. The unemployment rate, according to CMIE, in March 2022 was 25 per cent, almost three times the national average for the month, 7.60 per cent, and second highest after Haryana’s 26.7 per cent.
Unemployment among the educated youth in IIOJK was 46.3 per cent, only behind Kerala where the number was 47 per cent, the source added.
Read more: Accession Day: Kashmiris call for end to India’s brutalities in IIOJK
The average annual unemployment rate in IIOJK for 2017 was 12.98 per cent, 11.56 per cent in 2018, 16.29 per cent in 2019, 15.77 per cent in 2020, 15.69 per cent in 2021 and 17.3 per cent so far in 2022.
Talking to APP on Sunday, prominent Human Rights Activist Dr Farzana Bari said that although the ratio of unemployment increased substantially after the Covid-19 pandemic across the globe; however, its impact on IIOJK was more obvious.
“Since the people of IIOJK have been suffering from exploitation by the Indian state, the increase in the unemployment rate is not surprising to me. Protecting the rights of Kashmiri people is a farfetched thing, but Indian state has been the biggest violator of their basic rights”, Dr Bari observed.
About the Youm-i-Istehsal to be marked on August 5, Dr Bari said that it was the right time to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people and condemn the Indian government’s decision to strip occupied Kashmir’s special status and its continuous atrocities against the residents of the region.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, around the world, will be observing ‘Youm-e-Istehsal’ on August 5 (Friday) to mark the third anniversary of India’s abrogation of Article 370 of its constitution, which led to an attempt to illegally annex IIOJK and divide it into two union territories.
The main intent behind observing the occasion in solemnity is to expose Indian atrocities and show solidarity with the people of IIOJK.
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