An Injury to One Is an Injury to All in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
The International Socialist League/Socialist Voices send its greetings and solidarity to the people in the area of Azad Jammu, part of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, facing police brutality authorised by the AJK government – the state government. Reports by the BBC and Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) talk of police killing, JAAC say 27 people have been killed by security forces. This is truly shocking.
JAAC say the current crackdown is one of the most severe in recent memory of a social movement demanding the implementation of a signed agreement approved by the Pakistani government.
According to human rights activists, nearly 350 local residents have been detained over a span of just four days in a series of raids across the region. The central office of the JAAC has been sealed, and authorities also suspended mobile data services in the region preventing the world from witnessing the full scale of the repression. The state has registered what activists describe as fabricated criminal cases.
It is reported by the BBC that a massive convoy of protesters – more than 10,000 by official estimates are
close to the city of Rawalkot. The situation in the city is very tense.
Last September and October 2025 widespread protests and clashes forced the government to negotiate. A formal peace agreement was signed between the AJK Government and JAAC in October 2025, with the
federal minister for parliamentary affairs, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, acting as a signatory . This agreement was supposed to address a comprehensive charter of 38 demands .
The JAAC has consistently argued that the government has failed to implement the agreement in letter and spirit, leading to the decision to launch a long march from across Kashmir to Muzaffarabad on June 9 . The government’s response was not to engage in dialogue but to proscribe the JAAC under anti-terrorism laws on June 5, effectively criminalizing peaceful protest. As Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a JAAC member, stated in an audio message: “We are not against any country, institution or individual – to link our peaceful struggle with terrorism is a great oppression” . This designation is being used to justify mass detentions, the sealing of offices, and the use of lethal force against protesters.
We call on the Pakistan authorities to:
- Stop repressing and killing peaceful protestors!
- Allow freedom of demonstration and speech!
- Implement the agreement made with JAAC!
- Give Independence for Kashmir!