Islamabad: Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a collective of activist groups, on Wednesday said that 37 unarmed peaceful protesters and people, including women and children, who were not even protesting, have been killed by Pakistani forces in the last two days. The party’s claim could not be independently verified.
It said the violence erupted on Monday when the JAAC launched a long march, coinciding with the first phase of polls for the so-called legislative assembly in PoK.
In a statement, the JAAC said that a large number of people are critically injured with bullet wounds. “Hospitals are under forces’ control, doctors have been removed, medical stores have no medicines left. Volunteers who try to pick up the dead or injured are also being fired upon,” it said.
It urged ‘Doctors Without Borders’ to immediately send independent international medical teams to Rawalakot.
Meanwhile, shops and markets in Mirpur remained closed on Wednesday, BBC Urdu reported.
The authorities have suspended internet services in the region. Besides, there has been a complete media ban in Pakistan on the coverage of the JAAC protest.
In the first phase of elections on Monday held in 13 seats, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz secured nine seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party got four. The second and third phases of the remaining 32 seats will be held on August 2 and 10, respectively.
It is a direct contest between the two parties in PoK because former prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has boycotted the polls. The first phase of the election was marred by violence and massive rigging allegations.
The JAAC has been holding a series of protests in PoK since last month over 12 contentious seats of the so-called regional legislative assembly. It alleges that the establishment manoeuvres these seats to install a prime minister of its choosing.
The JAAC began protests and a long march across PoK on June 9. Before Monday’s violence, 40 people had reportedly been killed during the unrest, including 34 protesters and six police and paramilitary personnel.
The government had opened negotiations with the JAAC to end the protests before the legislative assembly elections, but the talks have so far failed to yield a settlement.
There are 53 seats in the so-called PoK legislative assembly – 45 are directly elected, while eight are reserved for women, technocrats and clerics.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has termed the protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as “enemies” like India and ruled out dialogue with them, even as the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Wednesday claimed that security forces have killed 37 people in the last two days.
“There will be no dialogue with the protesters. I bracket them with India. I put them in the same category as India and consider them as enemies of Pakistan,” Asif told reporters on Tuesday.
However, the Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah told reporters that the JAAC held a meeting with him and presented its 38 demands.
Alleging that the protesters want to seize Muzaffarabad and Mirpur through force, Sanaullah on Tuesday claimed that they were currently engaged in an “India-like attack”.
Sanaullah claimed that no one was killed in clashes between the law enforcement personnel and protesters.
