POK boils over: 1 killed, many injured after Pak Rangers open fire on protesters
Fresh protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir turned violent after police allegedly opened fire on demonstrators, killing one person. The clashes came amid an expanding government crackdown and the reported arrests of more than 600 civil rights activists.
Days after Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) protesters appealed to people of India to stand in solidarity amid widespread anti-Islamabad protests following a severe government crackdown and the sweeping arrests of more than 600 civil rights activists, tensions in the region escalated further on Sunday. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) POK unit said that one person was killed, and several others were injured after Pakistan Rangers opened fire on demonstrators during fresh protests demanding basic rights and the release of detained activists.
The latest violence comes as the protest movement led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) continues to gather momentum despite mass arrests, security restrictions and allegations of excessive use of force by Pakistani authorities.
In a series of posts on X, PTI's POK unit said demonstrations were held across several parts of the region in solidarity with an ongoing sit-in at Rawalakot and to press for what it described as basic constitutional and economic rights.
PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS POK
According to PTI's POK unit, hundreds of people, including women, participated in demonstrations in Charhoi while protest caravans continued moving towards Rawalakot. The party later alleged that Pakistani police and Rangers used force against protesters in Amb village in Dadyal tehsil of Mirpur district.
"Police and Rangers' shelling and firing on peaceful protesters at Dadyal Amb's location. One person martyred and multiple individuals injured due to Rangers' firing," PTI said in another post.
The claims could not be independently verified.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, which organised Sunday's protests, also alleged that security forces opened fire and used shelling to disperse demonstrators.
According to the committee, thousands of people, including women, children and elderly residents, gathered at Sardar Ghulam Hussain Khan Sports Stadium in Abbaspor before joining the wider protest movement. The organisation claimed that security forces fired on protesters, leaving several people critically injured.
JAAC also said large protest convoys continued reaching the Rawalakot sit-in site while parallel demonstrations were held in several towns across POK.
AMAN KHAN'S APPEAL TO INDIA
The latest protests come days after JAAC leader Sardar Aman Khan appealed to people in Srinagar, Ladakh, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu to stand with residents of POK.
In a video message, Khan alleged that Pakistani authorities had intensified their crackdown on protesters and even disrupted food supplies.
"We have faced atrocities. Our food has been stopped," he said while urging people across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to express solidarity with the movement.
Speaking at a large gathering in Rawalakot earlier, Khan also accused Pakistan of hypocrisy over its treatment of Kashmiris.
"They say they were terrorists. Look, it was the Pakistan Army that put guns into the hands of Kashmiris. Kashmiris had guns because the Pakistan Army gave them those guns. The entire Pakistan Army did it. And today, they have the audacity to call us terrorists?" he said.
Addressing thousands of supporters, Khan had also said, "POK is not a part of Pakistan. We do not need Pakistan; rather, it is Pakistan that desperately needs POK."
The unrest has also drawn criticism from international rights groups.
Amnesty International recently condemned Pakistan's decision to designate the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee as a "proscribed organisation," calling the move a disproportionate restriction on freedom of association and peaceful political activity.
The organisation also criticized heavy-handed measures against protesters ahead of the upcoming regional elections.
WHY THE POK PROTESTS ERUPTED
The latest violence is the culmination of weeks of growing unrest across POK, where thousands of residents have taken to the streets demanding political, economic and civil rights.
The protests are being led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an umbrella civil rights organisation that has been campaigning through a 38-point Charter of Demands. Among its key demands are economic reforms, an end to the unequal distribution of local resources, the withdrawal of excessive paramilitary deployment and greater political autonomy.
The movement gained momentum after Pakistani authorities designated JAAC as a "proscribed organisation" under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Protest leaders and activists say the decision triggered a sweeping crackdown, with more than 600 JAAC members and supporters detained following the arrest of its leader, Shaukat Nawaz Mir.
Internet restrictions, mass arrests, drone surveillance of protest sites and the use of force against demonstrators have further intensified tensions across POK. One of the movement's biggest demands is the abolition of the 12 seats reserved in the POK Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir after the 1947 Partition and later settled in mainland Pakistan. The seats were created to ensure those displaced continued to have political representation in the region's legislature. Today, however, protest leaders argue that the arrangement allows Islamabad to influence the composition of the Assembly and the formation of regional governments, despite the representatives not living in the territory. The issue has become one of the central demands of the JAAC-led movement, which is also calling for a boycott of the local elections scheduled for July 27, saying the existing political system does not reflect the will of POK's residents.
Days after Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) protesters appealed to people of India to stand in solidarity amid widespread anti-Islamabad protests following a severe government crackdown and the sweeping arrests of more than 600 civil rights activists, tensions in the region escalated further on Sunday. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) POK unit said that one person was killed, and several others were injured after Pakistan Rangers opened fire on demonstrators during fresh protests demanding basic rights and the release of detained activists.
The latest violence comes as the protest movement led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) continues to gather momentum despite mass arrests, security restrictions and allegations of excessive use of force by Pakistani authorities.
In a series of posts on X, PTI's POK unit said demonstrations were held across several parts of the region in solidarity with an ongoing sit-in at Rawalakot and to press for what it described as basic constitutional and economic rights.
PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS POK
According to PTI's POK unit, hundreds of people, including women, participated in demonstrations in Charhoi while protest caravans continued moving towards Rawalakot. The party later alleged that Pakistani police and Rangers used force against protesters in Amb village in Dadyal tehsil of Mirpur district.
"Police and Rangers' shelling and firing on peaceful protesters at Dadyal Amb's location. One person martyred and multiple individuals injured due to Rangers' firing," PTI said in another post.
The claims could not be independently verified.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, which organised Sunday's protests, also alleged that security forces opened fire and used shelling to disperse demonstrators.
According to the committee, thousands of people, including women, children and elderly residents, gathered at Sardar Ghulam Hussain Khan Sports Stadium in Abbaspor before joining the wider protest movement. The organisation claimed that security forces fired on protesters, leaving several people critically injured.
JAAC also said large protest convoys continued reaching the Rawalakot sit-in site while parallel demonstrations were held in several towns across POK.
AMAN KHAN'S APPEAL TO INDIA
The latest protests come days after JAAC leader Sardar Aman Khan appealed to people in Srinagar, Ladakh, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu to stand with residents of POK.
In a video message, Khan alleged that Pakistani authorities had intensified their crackdown on protesters and even disrupted food supplies.
"We have faced atrocities. Our food has been stopped," he said while urging people across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to express solidarity with the movement.
Speaking at a large gathering in Rawalakot earlier, Khan also accused Pakistan of hypocrisy over its treatment of Kashmiris.
"They say they were terrorists. Look, it was the Pakistan Army that put guns into the hands of Kashmiris. Kashmiris had guns because the Pakistan Army gave them those guns. The entire Pakistan Army did it. And today, they have the audacity to call us terrorists?" he said.
Addressing thousands of supporters, Khan had also said, "POK is not a part of Pakistan. We do not need Pakistan; rather, it is Pakistan that desperately needs POK."
The unrest has also drawn criticism from international rights groups.
Amnesty International recently condemned Pakistan's decision to designate the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee as a "proscribed organisation," calling the move a disproportionate restriction on freedom of association and peaceful political activity.
The organisation also criticized heavy-handed measures against protesters ahead of the upcoming regional elections.
WHY THE POK PROTESTS ERUPTED
The latest violence is the culmination of weeks of growing unrest across POK, where thousands of residents have taken to the streets demanding political, economic and civil rights.
The protests are being led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an umbrella civil rights organisation that has been campaigning through a 38-point Charter of Demands. Among its key demands are economic reforms, an end to the unequal distribution of local resources, the withdrawal of excessive paramilitary deployment and greater political autonomy.
The movement gained momentum after Pakistani authorities designated JAAC as a "proscribed organisation" under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Protest leaders and activists say the decision triggered a sweeping crackdown, with more than 600 JAAC members and supporters detained following the arrest of its leader, Shaukat Nawaz Mir.
Internet restrictions, mass arrests, drone surveillance of protest sites and the use of force against demonstrators have further intensified tensions across POK. One of the movement's biggest demands is the abolition of the 12 seats reserved in the POK Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir after the 1947 Partition and later settled in mainland Pakistan. The seats were created to ensure those displaced continued to have political representation in the region's legislature. Today, however, protest leaders argue that the arrangement allows Islamabad to influence the composition of the Assembly and the formation of regional governments, despite the representatives not living in the territory. The issue has become one of the central demands of the JAAC-led movement, which is also calling for a boycott of the local elections scheduled for July 27, saying the existing political system does not reflect the will of POK's residents.
