Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat on Friday called Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) a territory controlled by terrorists, warning that terrorists in Pakistan were trying to disrupt the resumption of normalcy in Kashmir.
Speaking at the Field Marshall K.M. Cariappa Memorial Lecture, Rawat said, "The territory (PoK) occupied by Pakistan is not controlled by the Pakistan establishment but it is controlled by terrorists. PoK is actually a terrorist-controlled part of Pakistan."
Asserting India’s position that PoK is illegally occupied, Rawat said, "The Article 1 of the Constitution and within it there is a section that clearly mentions that Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India. And, when we say Jammu and Kashmir, it is the complete state of J-K which includes PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan."
"Therefore PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan becomes an occupied territory, a territory which has been illegally occupied by our western neighbour," he said.
The general was talking about the genesis of Article 370, referring the mention in sub-para 3 that it was temporary in nature. "When we introduced it with the word temporary in it, there was no objection from Pakistan on Article 370. It has been amended twice, where the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir was designated as the Sadar-e-Riyasat, and later the prime minister, and then chief minister," he added, asking why Pakistan has suddenly woken up and raised the ante against India.
He then said that the reason was that the region was not controlled by the Pakistan establishment, but by terrorists.
He cautioned Pakistan not to resort to any "misadventure" against India, saying the Indian armed forces were fully ready to effectively check any such attempts.
Rawat also said that attempts are being made by Pakistani terrorists to disrupt resumption of normalcy in Kashmir after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 to withdraw special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
"We all have been concerned about Jammu and Kashmir and what has been happening there. Jammu and Kashmir has always been part of our great nation," he said.
Rawat said after signing of the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947 by Maharaja Hari Singh, there were mainly three issues—defence, foreign policy and communications, were under control of the Indian government.
The Army Chief also spoke about the recent killing of apple traders in the Valley, referring to incidents where a Rajasthani truck driver, a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh and an apple trader from Punjab were murdered by militants.
"Attempts are being made by these terrorists to disrupt resumption of normalcy in Kashmir post the abrogation. We have been seeing killing of apple traders, drivers from outside of the state, preventing shops from getting opened, and threatening schoolchildren from attending schools," he said.
"All this narrative is coming from Pakistan and terrorists," he added.
Rawat said the despite the disruptions, Indian forces with the government approach, will achieve its mission of peace and development.
"We will succeed, it may take time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
With inputs from PTI