'We Are Not Terrorists': Families In PoK's Rawalakot Left Shattered After Protests Turn Deadly
News world 'We Are Not Terrorists': Families In PoK's Rawalakot Left Shattered After Protests Turn Deadly 'We Are Not Terrorists': Families In PoK's Rawalakot Left
News world 'We Are Not Terrorists': Families In PoK's Rawalakot Left Shattered After Protests Turn Deadly 'We Are Not Terrorists': Families In PoK's Rawalakot Left Shattered After Protests Turn Deadly Published By, Last Updated: August 04, 2026, 20:14 IST Dozens of people in PoK's Rawalakot have been killed over the past two months, while protesters and authorities continue to give sharply differing accounts of the violence. Thousands of people from various parts of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) gathered in Rawalakot and raised slogans. (ANI) Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is witnessing one of its most serious crises in recent years, with protests, deaths, internet blackouts and staggered elections posing one of the biggest challenges to Islamabad’s control of the region. According to a BBC report, dozens of people have been killed over the past two months, while protesters and authorities continue to give sharply differing accounts of the violence. Makeshift clinics treat the injured In Rawalakot, a doctor has set up a makeshift clinic near the main protest site. A spare bedroom serves as a medical supply room, while patients are treated on a bed placed beneath a red tarpaulin outside. One of the patients had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. The doctor said the clinic could provide only basic treatment. “We have enough supplies to provide first aid. We can stop bleeding, clean and dress wounds, and remove superficial bullets.
But patients with serious injuries to the chest, abdomen, head, or other vital organs need advanced hospitals," he told the BBC. He said the clinic had treated around 50 to 60 critically injured patients since July 27, including 15 to 20 people with gunshot wounds. According to him, many protesters avoided hospitals because they feared they would be arrested or shot. The authorities rejected that claim. JAAC says protests are about basic rights The protests are being led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which says it is demanding affordable flour, lower electricity prices, better education, improved healthcare and implementation of an agreement signed with the Pakistan and PAK governments in October. “We only asked for affordable flour, electricity and our basic rights," Ali, whose friend suffered a critical gunshot injury, told the BBC. “Instead, our brothers are being killed. What was our crime? Why are live bullets being fired at us?" The PAK government disputes the protesters’ claims, saying the group is armed and attempting to disrupt the ongoing elections. Authorities have also refused to allow the protesters to march to Muzaffarabad. The JAAC was banned in June and labelled a foreign-funded terrorist organisation. The group rejects the allegation, saying it is peaceful and funded by the PAK diaspora rather than India. Families recount their losses Several families told the BBC they had lost relatives during the protests.
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