Pro India posters suggesting integration of Balochistan, PoK into India

Key Highlights The viral posters read "Maha Bharat" with a map of India including PoK and Balochistan region. This has come at a time when India has revoked Article 370 that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir

Islamabad: In a surprising development, pro-India posters warning integration of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) into India have surfaced across Pakistan's capital Islamabad. The posters read "Maha Bharat" with a map of India including PoK and Baloch region.

Interestingly, the posters also contain remarks of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut asserting that India will reclaim Balochistan and PoK the same way it reclaimed Jammu and Kashmir by revoking Article 370.

"Today, we have reclaimed Jammu and Kashmir. Tomorrow, we will take Balochistan and PoK. I have trust in this government that it'll fulfil the dream of undivided India," Raut has been quoted in the poster as saying.



This has come when Parliament has passed the historic Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019, that splits the state into two Union Territories. Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday had moved a resolution apprising the Rajya Sabha that the President has issued an order revoking Article 370.

Article 370 that was ushered in almost two years after post-accession to India (1947 being the accession year within months of Independence from British raj) gave Kashmir its own constitution and restricted the Centre's powers to mere matters of defence, communications and external affairs. For any other area, the Centre had to get the state legislature's approval. Further Article 370 legitimised Article 35A that empowered the J&K government to define permanent residents of the state and make special reservations for them. It barred 'outsiders' (not originally from the state) from buying property in J&K or claiming government jobs and educational scholarships.

As for the posters, reports suggest that they might have been put up by Baloch activists who have been fighting for decades for their rights and freedom within Pakistan but have been labelled as traitors and extremists.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and its Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa have warned of repercussions for India. While Imran Khan said that such moves will lead to incidents like the one in Pulwama, Bajwa said that his troops were ready to go to "any extent" to "help Kashmiris". Their frustration has been mounting because the international community is making no noise in Pakistan's favour.