World

PoJK Unrest: 119 Dead in 5 Months as Pak Forces Crack Down

by Akanksha Mishra
2026-11-07 07:52:00

In an indictment detailing severe human rights violations, prominent human rights defender and political activist Dr. Amjad Ayub Mirza has accused Pakistani security forces of waging an armed campaign against peaceful civilian protesters across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). In a formal dossier and public appeal issued to mark the completion of five months of sustained civil agitation, Mirza revealed that at least 119 civilians have been killed and over 910 critically injured since mass demonstrations began on June 5, 2026. Emphasizing the deteriorating humanitarian crisis across the region, Mirza stated that security forces have deployed combat drones, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and heavy artillery against unarmed residents demanding basic civil and economic rights. The activist has appealed directly to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the global community to intervene against extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and clandestine burials carried out by paramilitary forces.

Five Months of Unrest: Tracing the Origins of the Movement

The civil resistance began on June 5, 2026, when local trade alliances, student councils, and civil rights groups operating under the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) organized massive sit-ins and issued a call for a non-violent "Long March" toward the regional capital of Muzaffarabad. The movement was driven by public outrage over exorbitant electricity tariffs imposed despite the region generating substantial surplus hydroelectric power, cuts to essential wheat and food flour subsidies, administrative corruption, and heavy federal taxation.

Rather than addressing these socioeconomic grievances through political dialogue, federal authorities in Islamabad launched an extensive security mobilization to suppress the civic mobilization. Heavy contingents of external paramilitary units, including the Punjab Police, the Islamabad Constabulary, and the Pakistan Rangers, were deployed across regional borders to seal highway corridors and intercept the marchers. Dr. Mirza alleged that the federal administration circumvented legal frameworks by deploying additional units of the Sindh Police into PoJK, turning civilian districts into militarized zones characterized by razor-wire barricades, mobile network blackouts, and unprovoked baton charges.

Lethal Force in Rawalakot: Drone Strikes and RPG Explosions

The violence peaked in early November, with November 5 witnessing intense confrontations that left three civilians dead and 17 others wounded in a single day of clashes. According to Dr. Mirza, security detachments operating in the Poonch division deployed weaponized tactical drones to drop munitions on crowds assembled near a judicial court complex in Rawalakot, marking the use of unmanned aerial warfare against civilian protesters.

The physical toll of the military action was underscored by an incident in which an explosive projectile—identified by local forensic observers as a shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)—struck a residential dwelling while a family was gathered for an evening meal. The blast destroyed the residential quarters, killing five family members, including three young children, their mother, and their grandmother. Condemning the tragedy from Glasgow, Dr. Mirza stressed that such loss of civilian life cannot be dismissed as collateral damage, demanding an impartial international investigation into the deployment of heavy military armaments within populated residential zones.

Enforced Disappearances and Secret Burials: JAAC Leadership Jailed

Beyond active gunfire and artillery shelling, human rights monitors have documented systematic state actions aimed at dismantling the civil leadership of the movement. Thousands of individuals remain unaccounted for following arbitrary nighttime raids, sweeping cordon-and-search operations, and mass detentions across the Poonch, Mirpur, and Muzaffarabad divisions.

Dr. Mirza voiced concern over the physical safety and whereabouts of prominent JAAC leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir, who was taken into custody by security agencies on June 30. Over four months since his detention, Pakistani authorities have withheld information regarding his legal status, denying both his defense counsel and immediate family members visitation access or legal standing in court. Furthermore, Mirza leveled serious allegations against the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers, stating that security forces have systematically confiscated the bodies of protesters killed during street demonstrations. According to his statement, the remains of deceased protesters have been buried in remote, unmarked graves across the mountains without notifying their next of kin, depriving grieving families of the opportunity to conduct formal funeral rites or document forensic evidence of torture.

Denying Extremist Links: A Struggle Centered on Civil and Economic Rights

Addressing public claims disseminated by state-run Pakistani media outlets that sought to frame the demonstrations as foreign-backed extremism, Dr. Mirza rejected any links between the agitation and militant or sectarian networks. He affirmed that the ongoing movement is an indigenous, peaceful civilian uprising focused on fundamental economic survival, administrative justice, and constitutional self-determination.

The activist explained that local communities are protesting structural resource extraction, wherein major regional hydroelectric assets like the Mangla Dam generate low-cost clean energy for industrial zones across Punjab while local residents are subjected to frequent blackouts and exorbitant billing rates. Community members are also demanding the abolition of non-elected bureaucratic privileges and the restoration of state-backed food security mechanisms to counteract soaring food inflation. Mirza emphasized that labeling ordinary citizens, small traders, and students as state adversaries is a familiar tactic used to justify repressive measures under the guise of national security.

Global Appeals for Intervention: Demanding International Accountability

As regional communication blackouts and troop deployments continue, Dr. Mirza warned that failure by the international community to hold Pakistani military institutions accountable could trigger a deeper humanitarian catastrophe. He urged the United Nations, human rights organizations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Government of India to hold Islamabad accountable to international human rights conventions.

The appeal calls for immediate action:

International Fact-Finding Mission: Deploying an independent United Nations commission of inquiry to investigate the 119 civilian deaths and verify the use of drones and RPGs against civilian areas.

Unrestricted Humanitarian Access: Ensuring independent medical workers and the International Committee of the Red Cross can enter the territory to treat over 910 injured civilians.

Disclosure of Detainees: Requiring authorities to release full prisoner registries, provide legal access to detained leaders like Shaukat Nawaz Mir, and cease the practice of enforced disappearances.

Repatriation of Bodies: Halting unmarked burials and returning the mortal remains of slain demonstrators to their families for dignified last rites and independent post-mortem examinations.

The five-month milestone of the agitation underscores a widening divide between the population of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the central authorities in Islamabad. With local leaders reaffirming their determination to continue demonstrations until their 38-point rights charter is implemented, the situation remains a critical human rights flashpoint requiring urgent international scrutiny.