AJK Prime Minister Terms NYT Story Baseless, Rejects Its Claim

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Friday rejected a report published in United States' daily 'The New York Times' (NYT) on an alleged case of harassment in a community bunker along the Line of Control (LoC).

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2020 ) :Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Friday rejected a report published in United States' daily 'The New York Times' (NYT) on an alleged case of harassment in a community bunker along the Line of Control (LoC).

The AJK prime minister, in a statement issued here on Friday, termed the story unfounded and said not a single quote from any government's official or documentary evidence about the misuse of community bunkers in the Neelum Valley was cited in the report.

He asked NYT's editorial team to focus on the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) where Indian occupation forces were killing innocent people and political workers instead of publishing false and imaginary stories about the brave and civilized people of the AJK.

He said NYT should not publish such a baseless news reports without any audio and video evidence that bring a bad name to any community," he said, adding no such incident had been reported.

The AJK prime minister said the private community bunkers were being constructed in all the bordering areas along the LoC while the foreign newspaper misled its readers that the bunkers had only been constructed in the Neelum Valley.

"More than 30 percent population of the AJK lives in an area of 750 kilometres near LoC happily, despite the unprovoked firing of Indian forces on their houses. The foreign newspaper was deceived by its stringer who quoted an imaginary character of Mehnaz as claiming that she was a victim of sexual harassment in a community bunker in Neelum Valley," Farooq Haider said.

The prime minister said the people living along the LoC in AJK had been bravely facing the firing by Indian forces on their residential areas that were not covered by the newspaper to show the world the real face of Indian Army.

"The women in AJ&K are highly respected in normal life and during the Indian unprovoked firing in LoC areas, the people of AJK put their lives at risk to save their daughters and sisters," Haider added.