New Delhi/Muzaffarabad: The humanitarian crisis and state violence against civilians in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), an integral part of India but illegally occupied by Pakistan, has reached its peak. Over the past two months, more than 90 innocent civilians have died due to violent crackdowns, indiscriminate firing, and custodial torture by Pakistani security forces, the Frontier Constabulary (FC), the Pak Rangers, and the local puppet administration. A historic mass movement has erupted in major PoK cities—Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot, Palandri, and Kotli—against the termination of subsidies, skyrocketing electricity rates, and the repressive behavior of the Pakistani military. The Indian government has expressed strong outrage over this horrific bloodshed and blatant human rights violations, strongly criticizing Islamabad. India has categorically stated that the so-called elections and political processes being organised by Pakistan in PoK are a travesty of democracy and an attempt to fool the world.
The situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has deteriorated to such an extent that local citizens are forced to live like slaves on their own land. The incitement of the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency, the ISI, to fire on innocent protesters has turned the situation into a raging powder keg.
Why is public outrage erupting in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir? The horrifying truth about 90 deaths in two months.
The foundation for this raging unrest in PoK was laid months ago when ordinary citizens, led by the Awami Action Committee (AAC), began peaceful protests against the government’s repressive economic policies. For years, the citizens of PoK have been demanding affordable electricity, subsidies on flour and wheat, and rights over their own natural resources. However, instead of listening to their legitimate demands, the Pakistani government in Islamabad deployed more than 15 battalions of the army and paramilitary forces onto the streets.
Over the past 60 days, peaceful protesters, students, businesspeople, and the elderly have been subjected to a barbaric display of police brutality reminiscent of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy. Expired tear gas shells were used to disperse the crowd, and bullets were fired directly at the head and chest. According to reports, more than 65 people died on the spot in direct firing by security forces, while more than 25 injured civilians succumbed to their injuries due to lack of timely treatment in hospitals and torture in police custody. More than 800 people are seriously injured in this violence, and hundreds of young people have been forcibly abducted and tortured at undisclosed locations.
India exposed Pakistan’s brutality on the international stage.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has lodged a strong protest over the serial killings of innocent civilians in PoK and drawn the global community’s attention to this humanitarian tragedy. India’s official spokesperson issued a statement saying that the brutality, brazen use of force, and violation of basic human rights being perpetrated by Pakistan in Indian territories under its illegal occupation are highly condemnable.
The Ministry of External Affairs reiterated its clear stand, saying, “The entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, were, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Pakistan is only carrying out illegal and forcible occupation of these Indian territories. Islamabad must vacate the occupied Indian territories with immediate effect and stop the atrocities being committed against the civilians there.” India said that the country which pretends to be the champion of human rights before the world is suppressing the voice of its own citizens living in illegal detention at gunpoint.
Pakistan’s ‘Electoral Shot’: The military’s fake democracy to suppress public opinion
India has criticized the assembly and local body elections held periodically in PoK, calling them a complete sham and a sham. The elections, which Islamabad is conducting to gain political legitimacy in PoK, are not part of any democratic process but merely a script designed to install puppet leaders of the Pakistan Army’s choosing.
The Indian Foreign Ministry stated that holding elections in a region where there is a complete media blockade, local independent journalists are imprisoned, political opponents are kidnapped, and ordinary citizens are gunned down for expressing their views is tantamount to murdering the soul of democracy. Only political parties and candidates who pledge allegiance to Pakistan are allowed to participate in the PoK elections. Local leaders or nationalist parties who advocate for PoK’s independence or integration with India are declared unconstitutional and barred from contesting. Consequently, these elections lack any legal or moral legitimacy.
Resource plunder and economic slavery: Poké residents on the brink of starvation
Political repression isn’t the only reason behind the simmering unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but economic exploitation is also a major factor. The Neelum-Jhelum and Mangla Hydropower Projects in PoK generate thousands of megawatts of cheap electricity. This electricity is supplied to Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh provinces at extremely low rates, while the residents of PoK, on whose rivers these dams are built, are sold electricity at exorbitant rates of 45 to 50 rupees per unit.
Similarly, the residents of PoK have been hit hardest by Pakistan’s severe economic crisis and inflation. The flour crisis there has become so severe that lines at ration shops are stretching for kilometers. PoK’s natural resources, forests, minerals, and rivers are being used solely to fill Islamabad’s coffers, while local youth have neither employment opportunities nor access to improved education and health infrastructure. In the name of CPEC projects, local lands are being expropriated and handed over to Chinese companies, sparking anti-Pakistan anger among the general public.
Questions raised on the silence of the United Nations and international human rights organizations
Indian defense experts and human rights activists have also questioned the silence of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Western countries despite the killing of 90 innocent people in PoK within two months. Whenever Pakistan raises the Kashmir issue on international platforms, it attempts unsuccessfully to conceal its atrocities in PoK.
However, in this age of social media and the digital revolution, images emerging from Muzaffarabad and Mirpur are deflating Pakistan’s lies. Viral videos clearly show Pakistani army soldiers firing indiscriminately at unarmed civilians and dragging away mothers and sisters. India has made it clear that it will continue to expose Pakistan’s ugly face on international platforms. India’s diplomatic and moral fight will continue vigorously until Pakistan relinquishes its illegal occupation of PoK and its residents receive justice.