Sardar Umar Nazir Kashmiri, a key member of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), made an urgent call on Thursday to international media and global human rights groups. He urged them to spotlight the escalating crisis in PoK, where peaceful protests have faced brutal crackdowns.
The trouble started on September 29, when locals and JK-JAAC supporters took to the streets in a non-violent push for change. But Pakistani authorities responded with force, including human rights abuses, limits on freedoms, and the deaths of innocent people. Nazir reports that at least nine unarmed civilians have lost their lives, and hundreds more suffered injuries.
Adding to the chaos, Pakistan’s government imposed a total communication blackout across PoK starting September 28. Mobile networks, internet access, and landline services all went dark, isolating millions from the rest of the world.
Protesters also face blocked highways, which have sparked shortages of food, fuel, and other essentials. Authorities have filed cases against JK-JAAC leaders, activists, and even journalists trying to cover the events.
“These moves violate basic human rights and break key international agreements like the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Nazir said. These pacts protect people’s rights to life, freedom, peaceful gatherings, and free speech.
Nazir stressed that the JK-JAAC movement stays peaceful and sticks to constitutional paths. It builds on a 38-point Charter of Demands they submitted months ago. Despite Pakistan’s promise in December 2024 to address 12 major points, nothing has happened.
The group’s demands focus on everyday fixes for PoK residents: full accountability for officials, cutting lavish perks for elites in government, courts, and bureaucracy; handing real power and funds to local bodies; bringing back student unions; setting fixed job quotas for people with disabilities; scrapping 12 reserved seats for refugees from Pakistan; ensuring free, top-quality healthcare and education for everyone; offering interest-free loans to young people; and slashing taxes, among others.
“These aren’t calls for revolt—they’re smart reforms to bring justice, respect, and better lives to our people,” Nazir explained.
He slammed parts of the Pakistani establishment and outside groups for using violence to stifle the protests, calling it a direct attack on self-determination and core UN rules, including the Geneva Conventions. Nazir also hit out at some Pakistani media outlets for pushing fake stories that hide the truth from the country’s 250 million people and the world at large.
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