Human rights activist Arif Aajakia has been working to inform the world community about violations of human and minority rights in Pakistan. He was born in Karachi after his father migrated from a village in Gujarat to Pakistan during Partition but the London-based activist calls India his motherland and loves to visit Hindu pilgrimages, including the Ram Temple where he offered prayers during his India visit last month. In an interview with The Sunday Guardian, he shares his dream of seeing India reclaim PoK and urges Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help free PoK, Baloch, Pashtun and Sindhi people of Pakistani Army’s tyranny. Excerpts:
Q: What do you have to say about Pakistan’s track record on human rights?
A: Pakistan is one of the biggest culprits in human rights field. Ethnic and religious minorities in Sindh, Balochistan are special targets of Pakistan’s terrorist army. No international voice is raising this issue of inhuman behaviour with minor girls.
Q: What are your views on abrogation of Article 370 in India? Is there any unresolved issue in Kashmir?
A: First of all, it is an internal matter of India and no other country has a right to speak about it. The unresolved issue of Kashmir is only PoK and Gilgit Baltistan because it is occupied by Pakistan. My view, and it is a legal view, that in 1947 when the Kashmiri leadership asked a standstill agreement with Pakistan and India, why did Pakistan attack Kashmir? At the time the state of J&K comprised Jammu, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Ladakh. It is part of Bharat and if Bharat’s Supreme Court upholds the abrogation of Article 370 nobody can object.
Q: What are the changes you observe in the Valley after Article 370’s removal?
A: Kashmir’s economy is thriving through tourism, apple growing; highways and tunnels are being built; Kashmiri students are studying in all parts of the country. Article 370 was an hinderance in the progress of Kashmir. Even Kashmiris know that abrogation of Article 370 is a right step in the direction of development, progress and prosperity of J&K. Kashmir has faced very brutal Pakistani terrorism for decades, so now coming back to normalcy takes time. It has only been four years, hopefully, things will get much better.
The only unresolved issue is the lands occupied by Pakistan and China, which are occupied by China are also parts of the state of J&K and parts of Bharat.
Q: How do you view the situation in PoK and India’s stand that PoK is its territory?
A: People in PoK are seeing the progress and prosperity in the UT of J&K. When they see videos of Kashmir Valley they start thinking that they were also once a part of the same territory. Why isn’t there any prosperity in PoK or Gilgit Baltistan? People in PoK are facing 16-hour power cuts and paying for expensive electricity while they are the producers of electricity. In human rights, their culture, food, language and heritage are being killed in PoK. In Kashmir, Kashmiri culture is thriving. In Muzaffarabad, 90% of people are speaking Punjabi and wearing Punjabi dresses. So, demography has changed in PoK. There are no universities, medical colleges, there are no highways, there are no jobs, so there are protests across PoK because they can see the same Kashmiris in India are prosperous, getting better education and civic facilities but in all these are not provided in PoK.
Q: Is there a message you would want to give to Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
A: My message to Prime Minister Narendra Modiji is that he is leading the motherland of this region—all smaller countries, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, all these were part of India and were born from India. PM Modiji is leading this motherland and I think it is his responsibility to look after the well-being of the children of this motherland. And some children like Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis and people from PoK and Gilgit Baltistan are suffering a lot. The Baloch and Pashtuns are facing genocide at the hands of the brutal Pakistani Punjabi Army. If the motherland does not look after us who else will? So, my appeal and pledge to Prime Minister Modiji is please think about us and extend help to Baloch, Pushtun and Sindhi people to gain independence from this exploitative Army.
Q: What were the high-points of your seven-week visit to India last month?
A: I visited the Ram Temple at Ayodhya last month, this was my second visit in as many years with Lord Ram’s blessings. My purpose was to get closer to my identity. Pakistanis are people of lost identity because we were taught in our schools that we are of Arab descent or Central Asian or Afghan or Turkish descent. But we have India origin.
India has been a country that I have always admired because I belong to it. The aim behind coming here was to explore things and places. I have so many followers from India. Thousands of them met me during this visit of seven weeks. I visited 23 cities and villages. I visited many holy cities and temples like Haridwar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Mahakal Ujjain, Narmada, Dwarka, Nageshwar, Siddhi Vinayak in Mumbai and Somnath temple. I also went to my ancestral village in Gujarat.
Q: What is the purpose of your visit to India?
A: India is my motherland. It is the place from where my DNA comes. I am a person of Indian origin. A bad luck on my side is that I am the first one from our generation who was not born in India. Otherwise my father, grandfather and forefathers lived in India.
My grandfather migrated to Pakistan so I was born in Pakistan, but my children were born in Europe. I was the only one from our generation to be born here. I had to suffer and had to bear this stamp of bad luck on me.
Q: Did you also meet some of your Rakhi sisters during the visit?
A: In Mumbai, I met some sisters who love me even more than my real sisters. Actress Raveena Tandon. Jyoti is my sister; she is a scriptwriter in Bollywood; and Mona Singh, a homemaker; another sister was in Indore. I have so many loving people in India.