Islamabad, Oct 15: Khark, a village in Mirpur in occupied Kashmir, is threatening to become the nucleus of a resistant movement against what they fear Pakistan intentions to reduce Kashmiris into refugees in their own state by settling Pakistanis here. Khark with its about 1,00,000 souls is to be dug up for the expansion of the Mangla Dam. Mirpuris, who have already suffered massive displacement in 1967 when Gen Ayub Khan built the Mangla Dam, are in a defiant mood this time. They are threatening to lay down their lives if they were forced out of their hearth and home.
The All-Party National Alliance (APNA) of nationalist parties of both parts of occupied Kashmir (ie, what Pakistan calls northern areas and Azad Kashmir) has taken up the cudgels against the government plan to expand the Mangla Dam. These parties not only oppose the expansion of the Mangla Dam but also challenge the very existence of Pakistani nationals in occupied Kashmir and demand Pakistan pay up all the royalty due from it in the past 37 years.
The APNA alleges that the dam is proposed to be expanded for the benefit of Punjab and Punjabi generals settled in occupied Kashmir, but the people of occupied Kashmir are denied even the royalty due to them from electricity that is produced by the dam for different parts of Pakistan, they say. Bureau Report