AJK to raise 1,000-strong Rangers Force

MUZAFFARABAD:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwaarul Haq has expressed serious concern over the negative propaganda by certain elements to malign the state institutions, affirming that civil liberties are being upheld in the state.

Talking to the media, the AJK premier dismissed rumours regarding budgetary issues with the federal government as entirely unfounded. He stated that last year, the budgetary allocation was utilised without any lapses in the recurring budget.

Despite facing a fiscal deficit of Rs71 billion due to subsidies on flour and electricity, the government managed to settle Rs10 billion in outstanding development liabilities, he said and assured that despite financial challenges, progress on the development work in the region continued unabated.

The AJK premier highlighted that the previous administrations did not adequately address the challenges related to counter-terrorism and the law-enforcement in AJK. He accused India's intelligence outfit, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), of trying to destabilise the region.

"Thousands of fake accounts are being operated from abroad on social media and behind these fake accounts is the Indian intelligence agency RAW," he said, referring to fifth generation warfare unleashed by India to destabilise the AJK.

The Foreign Office of Pakistan, he continued, was actively engaged in advocating the Kashmiris' just cause and raising awareness about the challenges facing the Kashmiri people, both domestically and internationally.

Describing Jihad as an undeniable reality, he asserted that Jihad remained the only option for the Kashmiris to liberate their homeland from India. He stressed that Azad Kashmir acted as the base-camp for the liberation of occupied Kashmir.

He mentioned that the process to establish the 'Rangers Force' in Azad Kashmir was in final stages. "The main objective behind the establishment of Rangers Force is to secure strategic installations," the AJK prime minister told reporters.

"Currently, we lack a reserve force in Azad Kashmir and often rely on the Punjab Police or the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) to maintain the law and order," he said, adding that a decision had been taken to recruit 1,000 local individuals in the Ranger Force.

Expressing concern over the dire human rights violations in the Indian-occupied territory, he described the situation in the region as alarming. He said that there was no comparison between Azad Kashmir and the occupied Kashmir, which continued to suffer under India's aggressive military control.