PoK protests intensify; protesters reject Pakistan’s ‘Srinagar liberation’ narrative

Islamabad, July 13 (IANS) The anti-government protest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) entered its 34th consecutive day, with protestors raising slogans against the Pakistani authorities.

What began as demands for basic rights has transformed into a powerful challenge against Islamabad’s long-standing control, with local leaders delivering scathing accusations that strike at the heart of Pakistani authorities’ narrative on the occupied territory.

Addressing a gathering in Rawalakot on Sunday, protest leader Javed Iqbal said, “For 78 years, they sold us the ‘Srinagar liberation’ churan (propaganda). That fake churan is now expired; Kashmiris are no longer buying it. When we ask for flour, we get bullets; when we ask for electricity, we get bullets; when we ask for water, we get bullets.”

Stressing that PoK is done with Pakistan, the gathering echoed with the slogan, “Every single child will fight to the death, but Kashmir (PoK) will not become a province.”

Videos circulating on social media also showed hundreds of locals in the occupied territory, especially women, marching against repression, high taxes, power tariffs, and arbitrary arrests.

Meanwhile, members of the Kashmiri diaspora in Washington staged a protest against the human rights abuses in the PoK, calling for international intervention over what they described as the brutal crackdown by the Pakistani authorities.

The protestors carried a banner that read “Stop state repression in Kashmir” and raised slogans condemning the atrocities in the region.

The demonstrations worldwide come amid ongoing unrest in PoK, during which dozens of civilians have been killed and injured by Pakistani forces, with the region under a strict blockade, curfew, and a total communications blackout.

Last week, the civil society group, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), announced a long march towards Muzaffarabad in PoK on July 15, while urging the people across the region to join the protest in large numbers.

Citing reports, the JAAC further said that another two young men were killed in the firing by the Pakistani forces, as tensions in the occupied territory intensify.

“Every ruler sitting in the Muzaffarabad Assembly is responsible for this massacre — people will remember that the killers of these young men of ours are the Pakistani forces and the rulers of Muzaffarabad,” JAAC posted on X.

“On one side we are lifting the bodies of our young brothers; the remains of those killed a month ago are still kept in custody, and on the other side the rulers are turning this massacre into an election celebration by ignoring it. We will take revenge for the blood of the deceased from these killers,” it added.

–IANS

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