PoK protesters call for civil disobedience, tax boycott from Aug 14

The Story in Brief

Protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) announced a civil disobedience campaign starting August 14, Pakistan's Independence Day. The Awami Action Committee (AAC) said residents will refuse to pay electricity, water, and gas bills and boycott all income tax payments. The move came as demonstrations against the Pakistan government entered their 66th day, with mass rallies in Rawalakot and Mandhol. Imtiaz Aslam of the AAC appealed to the public and business community to halt tax payments in protest against alleged violence by Pakistani security forces.

The AAC also called for UN intervention, citing the 1948 UN resolution and alleging Pakistan failed to conduct a plebiscite and fulfill administrative responsibilities. At a Rawalakot rally, AAC core member Sardar Umar Nazir said PoK lacks a single modern hospital despite spanning 4,000 square miles, contrasting it with six super-speciality institutions in India's Jammu and Kashmir. Protesters had shifted their sit-in from Chinar Chowk and D-Chowk back to the Eidgah ground to accommodate over 90,000 people, according to news.abplive.com.