Beleaguered locals in PoK demand international intervention

New Delhi, May 3 (ANI): Inundated houses and damaged roads are a common sight in Gilgit Baltistan. The repeated pleas of the flood victims have been falling on deaf ears of the Pakistan Government.

The chaos created due to flash floods has forced the people to spend their nights in makeshift tents. The damaged roads and lack of communication links have only added to the people's woes.

"There were heavy rains in the northern parts of PoK, several houses and villages were washed away, but no help or any kind of relief was provided to them. The people in PoK are greatly concerned about these high-handedness and repressive techniques of the Pakistan Government. As a result, the locals, political activists are demanding international intervention," said Dipankar Banerjee, a defence analyst at Delhi-based think tank Forum for Strategic Initiatives.

"Snowfall in the northern parts of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, roads are already bad and hence the people cannot move from one place to another. This is great discomfiture in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Adding to this, government is not doing anything to rectify this. So, definitely there will be emergence of violence in that area," he added.

Unemployment has also remained a major concern among the people for a long time and it has started stoking tensions in the region.

"There are no jobs and the government is not taking any action in this regard and hence people are moving out of the region. When they protest for jobs, security forces beat them mercilessly," said Banerjee.

"The people in PoK do not get any employment opportunities. Youth of the area do not have any educational facilities and they are not fit to join any job in any part of Pakistan and within PoK. There is just nothing for these people," he added.

Natural disasters can occur in any part of the world, but it is for those in power to make sure that the people get back to normal life at the earliest.