Blood on the Mountains: Pakistan’s Iron Fist in Occupied Kashmir
Protests in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir amid security crackdowns. (Image International Human Rights Foundation on X)
By AMIT KUMAR
With Muzaffarabad under patrol and the valley’s roads watched by armed convoys, the people of PoJK find themselves caught between a government that refuses to listen and a state that increasingly refuses to let them speak.
New Delhi, June 10, 2026 — A wave of deadly unrest has engulfed Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), exposing the territory’s fragile social contract with Islamabad and raising urgent questions about governance, civil liberties, and the limits of dissent in a militarised region.
At least eleven people were killed and over seventy injured when Pakistani security forces clashed with supporters of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in Rawalakot, the capital of Poonch district, on June 8, 2026. According to Al Jazeera, the violence erupted a day before a major demonstration planned by the civil society alliance — a rally that went ahead despite sweeping restrictions. The regional police chief confirmed that 23 security officials were also among the wounded, with 30 people arrested.
The crackdown did not emerge in a vacuum. The regional government had already designated the JAAC as a proscribed organisation under anti-terror law on June 5, citing alleged involvement in violence and arms acquisition — accusations the group flatly denies. Arab News reported that the PoJK prime minister subsequently invited the JAAC to resume talks, even as authorities placed a bounty of Rs 10 million on four of its key leaders and issued travel advisories urging tourists to leave before June 9.
The JAAC is a broad civil alliance that has been at the forefront of sustained agitation in PoJK for over two years. Its demands, now expanded to a 38-point charter, span the abolition of reserved assembly seats for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan — a mechanism the group argues allows Islamabad’s mainstream parties to manipulate government formation in the territory — alongside calls for free education, healthcare, infrastructure investment, and an end to what it terms “ruling elite privileges.”
As Al Jazeera noted, experts characterise the current crisis not as an isolated eruption but as part of a deeper, long-running debate about self-governance and accountability in the region.
The pattern of escalation is by now familiar. In May 2024, a six-day wave of protests and strikes ended only after Pakistan’s Prime Minister agreed to slash flour prices and reduce electricity tariffs. In September and October 2025, fresh protests left at least ten dead before another government agreement — one protesters quickly dismissed as unimplemented. Each cycle has followed the same arc: mobilisation, crackdown, limited concessions, broken promises, renewed unrest.
What distinguishes June 2026 is the severity of the government’s pre-emptive response. Banning the JAAC under anti-terror statutes, deploying federal paramilitary troops, suspending internet services, and putting bounties on civil activists represents a significant escalation. Rather than containing discontent, these measures risk deepening it. Criminalising civil society is a strategy with a poor record in conflict-sensitive territories.
The international community has been slow to engage. While the United Nations has been urged by Kashmiri diaspora groups to intervene, no formal multilateral mechanism has been triggered. With Muzaffarabad under patrol and the valley’s roads watched by armed convoys, the people of PoJK find themselves caught between a government that refuses to listen and a state that increasingly refuses to let them speak.
Chronicler of Compassion: Lensman on Journey with Dalai Lama
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
