London:
Sohail Abro, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM), strongly condemns the brutal crackdown carried out by Pakistani security forces against peaceful protesters in Pakistani-administered occupied Kashmir. He expressed his deepest condolences to the families of those killed and stood in solidarity with the injured, detained, and persecuted people of Kashmir.
He said that for decades Pakistan has portrayed itself before the international community as a champion of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination, a defender of oppressed Muslims, and the sole custodian of the so-called Islamic nuclear capability. Yet, the tragic events in Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad expose a painful contradiction. While claiming to advocate for Kashmir internationally, the Pakistani state stands accused of using violence against the very people whose rights it professes to defend.
According to protesters and local accounts, personnel from the Pakistan Rangers, local police, the Punjab Constabulary, the Frontier Constabulary, and plainclothes operatives allegedly linked to intelligence agencies opened fire on unarmed men, women, and children participating in peaceful demonstrations. The protests intensified following the killing of Shahzeb, a young activist associated with the now-banned Joint People’s Action Committee (JPAC), after police allegedly targeted the motorcade of its chairman, Umar Nazeer.
Although authorities have acknowledged a limited number of deaths, local sources and activists claim that the actual toll of those killed and injured may be considerably higher. The transformation of the beautiful land known as “Kashmir Jannat-e-Nazir” into a place marked by fear, bloodshed, and repression has shocked Kashmiris across the world.
Sohail Abro stated that the Joint Awami Action Committee emerged as a broad-based popular movement of traders, professionals, students, activists, and ordinary citizens demanding relief from economic hardship, affordable electricity, accountable governance, and democratic rights. Instead of engaging through dialogue, the administration chose bans, arrests, and force. The labeling of peaceful movements as “foreign-funded” has become a familiar tactic previously used against Sindhi, Baloch, Pakhtoon, Seraiki, Gilgiti, and Kashmiri organizations.
JSFM calls upon the immediately end the use of force against peaceful protesters, release all political detainees, withdraw politically motivated cases, lift restrictions on civil liberties, and establish an independent and transparent investigation into the killings and allegations of human rights abuses.
Sohail Abro further urged the British Parliament, the United Nations, the European Union, international human rights organizations, and the wider democratic community to take urgent notice of the deteriorating human rights situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Independent international observers and fact-finding missions should be allowed to investigate these grave allegations and monitor the treatment of political activists and civilians.
He demanded a United Nations-supervised referendum in Kashmir to enable the people to freely determine their future, freedom, and sovereignty in accordance with their right to self-determination.
