Islamabad, Oct 11 In the wake of recent violent clashes across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC), a coalition of traders, lawyers, and civil society groups, recently unveiled a 38-point charter outlining a wide range of demands, a report cited.
The unrest between the protesters and police in several towns and districts, including Mirpur, Kotli, Rawalakot, Neelum Valley, and Muzaffarabad, has left nine people dead, including police officers
According to the report in the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the demands in the 38-point charter include the restoration of a flour subsidy and control of inflation, the end of privileges available to judges and civil servants, the withdrawal of unjust taxes, and the reservation of jobs for Kashmiris in the federal government of Pakistan.
Additionally, it called for financial aid for traders, cancellation of the PoK Bank's merger with the State Bank of Pakistan, the abolition of toll plazas, a ban on timber smuggling and the construction of hostels for students in different towns.
Earlier on October 2, JK-JAAC Core Committee member, Sardar Umar Nazir Kashmiri, issued an urgent appeal to the international media and global human rights organisations, calling for immediate attention to the ongoing crisis in PoK.
“Since September 29, a peaceful public movement has been met with state repression, human rights violations, restrictions on civil liberties, and the killing of innocent civilians. According to Nazir, state forces and non-local personnel have carried out indiscriminate firing, killing at least nine unarmed civilians and injuring hundreds more,” read the statement issued by the JK-JAAC.
According to the statement, since September 28, the Government of Pakistan has enforced a complete communication blackout across PoK, suspended mobile networks, internet, and landline connections, effectively cutting off millions of people from the outside world.
“Inter-provincial highways have been blocked to deliberately create shortages of essential goods, food, and fuel, while cases are being registered against JK-JAAC leaders, activists, and journalists,” it stated.
“These actions,” Nazir said, “are not only a gross violation of human rights but also a clear breach of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantee every individual the right to life, liberty, peaceful assembly, and freedom of expression.”
Highlighting the peaceful and constitutional nature of the ongoing struggle, Nazir reaffirmed that the “JK-JAAC's movement is rooted in the 38-point Charter of Demands submitted months ago, which remains unimplemented despite the government's commitment in December 2024 to act upon 12 of its key points.”
The JK-JAAC condemned the attempts by elements of the Pakistani establishment and non-state forces to crush a peaceful movement, calling them violations of both the right to self-determination and fundamental UN principles and the Geneva Conventions.
Nazir strongly criticised sections of the Pakistani media “for spreading false and misleading narratives to conceal ground realities from Pakistan's 250 million citizens and the international community.”
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