Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 29: At least two persons were killed and 22 injured on Monday after violent clashes broke out during protests against the Pakistan government in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s (PoK) Muzaffarabad, official sources said.
Armed thugs backed by the Pakistan Army and the ISI-backed Muslim Conference were seen firing on civilians demanding basic rights. Videos of the violence have surfaced online, showing injured PoK youth being rushed to the hospital. Reportedly, forces opened indiscriminate fire on peaceful civilian protesters.
In one video men can be seen firing guns into the air while others climb on top of cars surrounded by a sea of flag-waving, slogan-chanting agitators. In another a protester showed a handful of spent bullets. PoK has been wracked by massive protests – led by the Awami Action Committee over the ‘denial of fundamental rights’ – in the past 24 hours, including a complete shutdown of markets, shops, and local businesses, as well as a halt on transport services. Visuals from the ground also show civilians in PoK displaying bullet shells allegedly fired by Pakistani forces.
The Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday had urged the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) to withdraw its call for an indefinite “lockdown” in Azad Kashmir but his appeal went unheeded. The JKJAAC has laid a 38-point charter of demands before the Azad Kashmir government, which includes removal of perks of the ruling elites, ending 12 seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly reserved for Kashmiri migrants who came from the Indian-side of the territory, and royalty for hydel power projects in Azad Kashmir.
Locals argue reservation of 12 seats for the migrants undermines representative governance. “Our campaign is for fundamental rights denied to our people for over 70 years… either deliver on rights or face the wrath of the people,” AAC leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir said. Mir also delivered an ominous warning to Mr Shehbaz Sharif’s administration. He described the strike as ‘plan A’ – a message that the people’s patience has run out and the authorities were now on notice. The AAC has back-up plans and a severe ‘plan D’, he said.
Islamabad has responded to these protests with a show of strength. Pakistani media reports said heavily-armed patrols have held flag marches through PoK towns and thousands of troops have been re-routed from neighbouring Punjab province. An additional 1,000 troops have been sent from capital Islamabad, sources said. The Pakistani government has also restricted internet access in the region.
Clashes in PoK this week follow a tragic incident last week. Thirty civilians were killed in Pak Air Force strikes – China-made JF-17 fighter jets dropped Chinese-made LS-6 laser-guided bombs – on a village in the country’s remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The deaths sparked outrage among local communities already on edge over an increase in terror attacks in recent years. Increased terrorist activity in Khyber also follows banned groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed moving into the area to establish new bases after India’s Operation Sindoor.
The JKJAAC committee has organized several protests in Azad Kashmir in recent years to demand resolution of public issues, some of which have even turned violent. In Nov. last year, the JKJAAC had staged a similar protest that continued for days and ended after assurances by the AJK government to meet their demands.
The action committee this year issued a call for an indefinite lockdown in Azad Kashmir starting Sept. 29, which prompted members of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party from Pakistan and Azad Kashmir to hold consultations to defuse the demonstration that may continue for days if not weeks.
“’I will reach Pakistan within next two days’,” Mushtaq Minhas, a member of Sharif’s PML-N party, quoted the Pakistan premier as telling him at their meeting in London. “The prime minister said, ‘We will contact the Joint Action Committee, I will have its representatives invited.” Minhas said the prime minister promised to resolve the issues faced by all the Kashmiri people, not just the joint action committee. “Whatever issues are being faced by the Kashmiris, he will, God willing, play his role regarding their resolution,” he added.
The development came amid reports of suspension of Internet and mobile phone services in Azad Kashmir. Services were “closed on the direction of MoI [Pakistani ministry of interior],” Pakistan Telecommunication Authority spokesperson Zaibun Nisa said.
In May 2024, at least three protesters and a police officer were killed and several others wounded in days of clashes between demonstrators demanding subsidies on wheat flour and electricity and law enforcement in Azad Kashmir, according to officials. The protests were called off after Pakistan announced $83 million subsidies and prompted the regional government to notify a reduction in prices of wheat flour and electricity.