MEA says 90 civilians killed in PoK crackdown, calls Pakistan's local polls a 'complete farce’

New Delhi: India on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan's local elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as a "complete farce", alleging that the electoral exercise was being used to mask an ongoing crackdown in which at least 90 civilians have been killed since June.

Addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the situation in the occupied territory was marked by public protests and alleged killings by Pakistani forces, not by a credible electoral process.

"This so-called local elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is a complete farce. The real happening is that of public protests and wanton killings by the Pakistani forces. Such hollow exercises cannot hide reality. Since June this year, at least 90 civilians have lost their lives in the continuing crackdown, many more have been injured as you have seen," Jaiswal said.

He accused the Pakistani establishment of attempting to create legitimacy through the elections while suppressing public dissent.

"The Pakistani establishment has answered public discontent with bullets, blackouts, intimidation and repression and now seeks to manufacture legitimacy through a hollow electoral exercise. It must be held accountable and the world should see through the veneer of Pakistan's hypocritical lecturing on human rights," he added.

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The MEA's remarks came amid reports of violent clashes, allegations of electoral rigging and the killing of political workers during the first phase of local elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. According to local media reports, coalition partners have accused each other of undermining the electoral process.

The protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), led by the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), began on June 5 and have continued to intensify. Protesters have alleged that Pakistani security forces launched a severe crackdown that has left more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured over the past several weeks.

Earlier on Tuesday, the JKJAAC alleged that Pakistani security forces opened live fire and used tear gas against unarmed civilians in Bagh district. The group also claimed that security personnel set fire to civilians' motorcycles in the Makri region of Muzaffarabad district.

In posts on social media platform X, the JKJAAC urged the United Nations, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), international media and human rights organisations to monitor the situation closely, seek an independent investigation into the reported incidents and ensure accountability for any unlawful use of force.

With IANS inputs