Protests in PoK challenges Islamabad's Kashmir narrative amid widespread repression: Report
Islamabad, July 23
The ongoing unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is increasingly challenging Islamabad's long-standing narrative of control over the region, exposing a system of domination masked by the term "Azad". While Pakistan may suppress the protests through crackdowns, arbitrary arrests and manufacturing temporary agreements, its exclusive hold over the Kashmir narrative has failed.
"The people living there are now demonstrating what that freedom actually means. It means a regional government whose ultimate authority rests not in Muzaffarabad but in Islamabad. It means an assembly whose composition can be influenced through constituencies located outside the territory. It means economic exploitation, elite privileges, internet shutdowns, political arrests and anti-terrorism laws deployed against civilian protest movements," a report in Stringer Asia detailed, highlighting Islamabad's sweeping control over the region, repression and suppression of dissent.
"Increasingly, it also means bodies in the streets. The latest unrest has produced demonstrations, strikes, road blockades and violent confrontations between protesters and Pakistani security forces. In July, nine people were killed during clashes in Tararkhal and Rawalakot. Six protesters and one police officer died in Tararkhal, while another protester and a security official were killed in Rawalakot. The latest deaths brought the number of people killed since the beginning of the current turmoil to roughly thirty, according to local estimates," it added.
The report argued that Pakistan's response in PoK followed a familiar pattern, portraying the political movement as a terrorist organisation. It noted that the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a coalition of traders, lawyers, transport workers and civil society activists, was banned under anti-terrorism laws. Several of its members were arrested, communication channels were restricted, and security forces were deployed in the occupied territory in a manner that treated the movement as an insurgency rather than a civilian campaign seeking political representation and economic justice.
"This is the Pakistani establishment's most reliable administrative miracle. Citizens become terrorists, demands become conspiracies, demonstrations become foreign-sponsored destabilisation, and military violence becomes law enforcement. The method has already been tested in Balochistan, where families searching for disappeared relatives are accused of serving foreign intelligence agencies," the report noted.
"It has been refined in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where opposition to military operations is treated as sympathy for terrorism. It has been deployed against journalists, lawyers, students, ethnic movements and supporters of Imran Khan," it added.
Pakistan continues to frame every domestic unrest against the authorities as an act of foreign interference, according to the report, with Islamabad portraying every Baloch activist as an Indian agent, every Pashtun critic as a terrorist sympathiser, every journalist as part of a conspiracy, and every protester in PoK who questions Islamabad as a national security threat.
"The alternative explanation-that Pakistan's citizens and subject populations are capable of recognising oppression without foreign assistance-is apparently too dangerous to contemplate," it noted.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Interesting how the narrative is shifting. Pakistan has spent decades convincing the world that PoK is a "free" territory, but now the people there are literally dying to show the truth. Thirty deaths since the unrest began, internet shutdowns, anti-terror laws used against civilians - this isn't how you treat your own citizens. India should use this to highlight the hypocrisy at the UN.
The Stringer Asia report is spot on about Pakistan's playbook: brand all dissent as foreign-sponsored terrorism. Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and now PoK - same pattern every time. Pakistan needs to understand that genuine grievances don't disappear by labeling people as Indian agents. Instead of blaming everything on us, they should look inward and fix their own house. #KashmirSpeaks
As an outsider following this closely, the cognitive dissonance is staggering. Pakistan demands a plebiscite in Indian-administered Kashmir while suppressing every voice of dissent in their own occupied territory. The term "Azad" is a cruel joke at this point. International media should be amplifying these stories - the people of PoK deserve justice, not bullets and internet blackouts.
It's heartbreaking to see innocent people dying in Tararkhal and Rawalakot. Six protesters and one police officer in one clash, another protester and security official in another - this is a tragedy, not politics. But yes, we need to call out the hypocrisy. Pakistan can't keep crying "human rights" in global forums while imposing military rule on their own people. The truth always comes out eventually. 🙏
R We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.