Even as Pakistan's establishment brands the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK)-based Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) an armed, "proscribed" outfit, the group has pressed ahead with its protest campaign despite heavy deployment of personnel, bloodshed and a brutal response. The clashes between the occupying establishment's forces and the people of POK on Tuesday, which claimed 12 lives, have set the stage for a planned high-stakes march to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday afternoon.
Cities in POK have been sealed. BBC Urdu reported that authorities imposed an undeclared media blackout on Rawalakot by barring journalists from entering the city.
POK, which has been rocked by protests for a month now, remains on edge on Wednesday, a day after at least 12 people, including two security personnel, were killed in clashes a day before the JAAC's long march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad, (the administrative centre of POK).
Reports suggest that thousands have assembled in various cities and towns, while JAAC leaders have claimed that at least 40,000 protesters planned to march to Muzaffarabad.
The latest violence comes amid one of the region's biggest anti-government movements in years. The establishment has deployed at least 4,000 Rangers, police and Frontier Corps personnel to stop the protest march, reported BBC Urdu.
The unrest in the Indian territory that Pakistan occupied illegally in 1947, marks a sharp escalation in weeks of protests over governance, inflation and political representation in POK. The protests began as the JAAC's opposition to reserved Assembly seats reserved for outsiders, and allegations of discrimination. It has now snowballed into a wider anti-government agitation demanding political and economic reforms.
The Field Marshal Asim Munir-led establishment has responded with arrests, internet shutdowns, security crackdowns and the deployment of additional forces, while protesters have accused the state of suppressing dissent.
Even as the protests intensified, JAAC leaders last month claimed that the Pakistani hybrid regime had blocked food and medicine supplies for weeks. Its leaders appealed for humanitarian help from India and asked supporters whether the movement should march towards the Line of Control.
India on Tuesday said the protests in POK reflected Pakistan's decades-long "systemic exploitation, denial of fundamental rights and administrative oppression" in areas under its "illegal and forcible occupation". External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also accused Pakistan of using excessive force against protesters and urged the international community to hold Islamabad accountable for "egregious abuses and misdeeds".
POK CLASHES LEAVE 12 DEAD AHEAD, PAKISTAN DEPLOYS 4,000 SECURITY PERSONNEL
According to BBC Urdu, two separate clashes in the so-called "Poonch Division" on Tuesday left 12 people dead, including 10 civilians and two security personnel. Officials told the broadcaster that one Rangers personnel and one police official were among those killed, while the remaining victims were civilians.
The violence erupted a day before the JAAC's planned long march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad, scheduled to begin at 2 pm on Wednesday (Pakistan Standard Time).
With the march "expected to draw large crowds", authorities have deployed nearly 4,000 Rangers, police and Frontier Corps personnel across POK, according to BBC Urdu.
Officials have made it clear that protesters "will not be allowed" to march towards Muzaffarabad. Security reinforcements have been positioned across key routes as the Munir-led establishment prepares for confrontations.
Pakistani authorities have consistently portrayed the clashes as attacks by "armed JAAC activists". The police claimed the organisation had, after "failing to gain public support", resorted to indiscriminate firing near the New Bus Terminal to shift blame onto security forces.
Pakistani newspaper Dawn similarly reported that two law enforcement personnel were "martyred", while seven activists of the "proscribed JAAC were killed" during what authorities described as a "clearance" operation.
HAD WE PICKED UP GUNS... JAAC REJECTS CLAIMS, SAYS IT IS BEING MALIGNED
The JAAC has rejected the allegations. Its account on X denied responsibility for the death of the Rangers personnel. Responding to videos circulating online showing armed men, the committee said, "These people are trying to deceive the public".
"If we had intended to pick up guns, we would not have had to carry the bodies of so many of our unarmed brothers till today," it said."Forces have deployed their armed men in civilian clothes at various places and are having them fire shots to create the impression that these are people from the Action Committee. The Action Committee belongs to the people, and the people are peaceful; they have no weapons," the JAAC said in a separate post.
"Lies are being spread. The people should remain vigilant and keep an eye on those doing the firing if they are in civilian clothes. The people of the Action Committee are unarmed and peaceful," the JAAC added in the post on X.
WHAT IS THE LONG MARCH IN POK ABOUT?
The long march is a part of the JAAC's broader struggle against the Pakistani government's discrimination and economic injustice in POK.
Among its demands are ending privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, reducing political appointments, abolishing Assembly seats reserved for "Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan", withdrawing cases against JAAC activists, opposing the deployment of Rangers, improving healthcare and education, ensuring local control over natural resources, paying Mangla Dam compensation, introducing administrative reforms and guaranteeing employment support.
The committee's 38-point charter also calls for student union elections, judicial reforms, tax relief, better public services and a minimum monthly wage of 50,000 Pakistani rupees.
Even as the protests intensified, JAAC leaders alleged that the Pakistani hybrid regime had blocked food and medicine supplies for weeks, creating a humanitarian crisis and deepening public anger. Protest leader Sardar Aman Khan also appealed for humanitarian help from India and asked supporters whether the movement should march towards the Line of Control.