Now Reading: PoK unrest: death toll crosses 70 as protests enter eighth week
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PoK unrest: death toll crosses 70 as protests enter eighth week
Protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have entered their eighth week, with the death toll exceeding 70 after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Rawalakot on July 27 and in Mirpur the following…
The Story in Brief
Protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have entered their eighth week, with the death toll exceeding 70 after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Rawalakot on July 27 and in Mirpur the following day. The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a grassroots platform founded in 2023, has led the mobilisation over electricity tariffs, wheat subsidies, and governance reforms.
Local reports say the government has moved to ban the JAAC as a terrorist organisation and has detained several supporters. Pakistan's top political leadership, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has not issued any public statement acknowledging the violence, even as Sharif publicly condoled with Spain over wildfires on the same day as the Rawalakot killings. The Hindu reports the unrest is the most sustained mobilisation in PoK in decades.
The Indian Opinion
Islamabad's silence as over 70 die in PoK protests fits a pattern: Kashmiris are told they are the 'jugular vein' of Pakistan only when the rhetoric serves anti-India propaganda. The JAAC's core demands, fair electricity tariffs, wheat subsidies, and genuine electoral reform, are bread-and-butter issues, not secession. Watch whether the Shehbaz government bans the JAAC as a 'terrorist' outfit, because that will reveal if it can tell a political movement from a security threat.
Sources (2): thehindu.com, thehindu.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
