VK Singh, a former Indian Army chief, predicted on Tuesday that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would join with India on its own. Singh was responding to a query on Shia Muslim demands for the reopening of the Kargil border crossing with India.
“PoK will merge with India on its own, wait for some time,” Singh said at a press conference in Rajasthan’s Dausa during BJ’s Parivartan Sankalp Yatra programme. PoK is separated into two regions: Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. According to the BBC, the population of PoK is roughly 4.5 million people. 97% are Muslims, with 3% belonging to other minorities such as Hindus and Christians.
In response to Singh’s remarks, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut stated that if the PoK joins India, the move will be applauded.
“We have always dreamed that there be an ‘Akhand Bharat’. We always say that PoK is ours. But when the former Army chief was holding the post, he should have tried then to make it ours. How can you do it now?” Raut told reporters.
Taking jibe at the Central government related to Manipur Raut further said, “We will welcome it if any effort is made towards that but before that, make Manipur peaceful.”
He went on to say that China has reached Manipur, Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh, and he begged the administration to put a stop to it first. Raut said that China had arrived in Manipur, and that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had claimed that China had entered Ladakh and “taken our land.”