A 20-member delegation of Turkish media persons on Wednesday visited Chakothi sector for a first-hand information about life and losses amid unrelenting ceasefire violations by Indian troops from across the restive Line of Control (LoC), civilian and military officials said.
The delegation members interacted with the victims of ceasefire violations and were told that the shelling had been causing the villagers both physical and material losses without any respite, according to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the AJK government Press Information Department.
Neither can our children go to the schools nor can we shift our injured persons to health facilities “because Indian troops do not spare even schools and health facilities,” the villagers told the visiting journalists and urged that international media should expose Indian aggression and highlight their plight.
On their way back, the delegation visited Central Press Club Muzaffarabad, where they gathered information from local journalists on the situation in the region, apart from sharing their observations.
Welcoming the delegation, president press club Tariq Naqash said that the people of Azad Kashmir owed a special gratitude to their Turk brethren who were among the first few countries that came rushing in aid of them after the devastating 2005 earthquake.
He also thanked Turkish government, particularly President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and speaker of Turkey’s grand national assembly, for their unequivocal support to the Kashmiris.
When the visiting journalists asked as to what they expected Turkish media persons to highlight in their reports, Mr Naqash said the marked difference between the divided parts of Kashmir should be focused, in addition to the peculiar situation in Indian occupied Kashmir in the wake of India’s Aug 5 move.
“While one part of Kashmir under Indian occupation is under a lockdown for the past 45 days, amid complete communication shutdown, round the clock curfew, mass arrests and other despotic measures, the other part known as Azad Kashmir enjoys complete freedom of movement and speech,” he said.
The visiting journalists were told that the Kashmiris on both sides of the divide were determined to overthrow Indian occupation, at all costs.
Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Ms Merve Sebnem Oruc, a columnist for Daily Sabah, said they had met with the victims of Indian firing at the LoC as well as the families who had suffered from the Indian atrocities.
“The people we met are of the view that there is no option but to wage a war with India because the international community does not care about what’s happening around in Kashmir,” she said.
Ms Oruc pointed out that while Pakistan was asking the international community to pressure India and wanted the UN resolutions [on Kashmir] to be implemented, “the whole world was in a chaos and the international community was deaf and blind.”
“As we know they do not care what’s happening in Syria, Palestine, East Turkmenistan, Yemen etc. We now know that international media and community does not care about the sufferings of other people. So the locals [Kashmiris] might be true in their belief that there is no option but a war [with India].”
However, she cautioned that since both countries were nuclear powers, the situation could become very very dramatic and precarious.
“Actually when there is a war then the international community will care about that. But [then] it will be too late,” she said.
Others who interacted with local journalists were Gökhan Gökçe of TRT World, Atif Özbey of kanal 5.
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