India Pushes Back Against ‘Pakistani Kashmir’ Label Amid Unrest in PoK
New Delhi — India’s objection to a New York Times headline referring to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as “Pakistani Kashmir” reflects a broader effort to prevent terminology from implying that Pakistan has legitimate ownership of the disputed territory, according to a recent commentary.
The Indian Embassy in Washington criticized the newspaper’s wording after it published the headline “Clashes Erupt in Pakistani Kashmir,” stating that “there is no Pakistani Kashmir, only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.”
The objection came amid reports of deadly unrest in Mirpur, Kotli, Rawalakot, Muzaffarabad and other parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. More than 50 people have reportedly been killed and hundreds injured during clashes involving Pakistani security forces and protesters.
Writing in India Narrative, former Punjab Special Chief Secretary K.B.S. Sidhu argued that the diplomatic dispute over terminology and the violence in the region were closely connected.
Sidhu said India’s correction was not simply a disagreement over language, but an attempt to challenge terminology that could present Pakistan’s control of the territory as lawful ownership.
He alleged that Pakistani forces fired live ammunition at civilians who were boycotting what Islamabad described as a democratic election.
According to Sidhu, elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have historically been shaped by Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, which he said has exercised influence over candidates and political outcomes.
He described the widespread refusal to participate in the July election as an unusually strong act of opposition to Pakistani rule and said the government responded with force.
The commentary also pointed to demonstrations in London, where members of the Kashmiri diaspora marched from Hyde Park to the Pakistan High Commission to protest the reported actions of Pakistani security forces.
Sidhu argued that the demonstration was particularly significant because many of those involved had family ties to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and were protesting against Islamabad rather than supporting its position on the broader Kashmir dispute.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has also rejected the elections, describing them as a “cosmetic exercise” intended to legitimize what New Delhi considers Pakistan’s illegal occupation of the territory.
Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called the vote a “complete farce” and said it could not conceal reports of protests, civilian deaths and repression.
“The Pakistani establishment has answered public discontent with bullets, blackouts, intimidation and repression and now seeks to manufacture legitimacy through a hollow electoral exercise,” Jaiswal said.
India and Pakistan both claim the Kashmir region in full but administer separate portions of it. India officially refers to the territory administered by Pakistan as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. (Source: IANS)
