POK on edge as showdown looms: 12 killed, 4,000 Rangers deployed, media blacked out
Even as Pakistan's establishment brands the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK)-based Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) an armed, "proscribed" outfit, the group has pressed ahead with its
Even as Pakistan's establishment brands the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK)-based Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) an armed, "proscribed" outfit, the group has pressed ahead with its protest campaign despite heavy deployment of personnel, bloodshed and a brutal response. The clashes between the occupying establishment's forces and the people of POK on Tuesday, which claimed 12 lives, have set the stage for a planned high-stakes march to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday afternoon. Read Full Story Cities in POK have been sealed. BBC Urdu reported that authorities imposed an undeclared media blackout on Rawalakot by barring journalists from entering the city. POK, which has been rocked by protests for a month now, remains on edge on Wednesday, a day after at least 12 people, including two security personnel, were killed in clashes a day before the JAAC's long march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad, (the administrative centre of POK). Reports suggest that thousands have assembled in various cities and towns, while JAAC leaders have claimed that at least 40,000 protesters planned to march to Muzaffarabad. The latest violence comes amid one of the region's biggest anti-government movements in years. The establishment has deployed at least 4,000 Rangers, police and Frontier Corps personnel to stop the protest march, reported BBC Urdu. The unrest in the Indian territory that Pakistan occupied illegally in 1947, marks a sharp escalation in weeks of protests over governance, inflation and political representation in POK. The protests began as the JAAC's opposition to reserved Assembly seats reserved for outsiders, and allegations of discrimination.
It has now snowballed into a wider anti-government agitation demanding political and economic reforms. The Field Marshal Asim Munir-led establishment has responded with arrests, internet shutdowns, security crackdowns and the deployment of additional forces, while protesters have accused the state of suppressing dissent. Even as the protests intensified, JAAC leaders last month claimed that the Pakistani hybrid regime had blocked food and medicine supplies for weeks. Its leaders appealed for humanitarian help from India and asked supporters whether the movement should march towards the Line of Control. India on Tuesday said the protests in POK reflected Pakistan's decades-long "systemic exploitation, denial of fundamental rights and administrative oppression" in areas under its "illegal and forcible occupation". External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also accused Pakistan of using excessive force against protesters and urged the international community to hold Islamabad accountable for "egregious abuses and misdeeds". POK CLASHES LEAVE 12 DEAD AHEAD, PAKISTAN DEPLOYS 4,000 SECURITY PERSONNEL According to BBC Urdu, two separate clashes in the so-called "Poonch Division" on Tuesday left 12 people dead, including 10 civilians and two security personnel. Officials told the broadcaster that one Rangers personnel and one police official were among those killed, while the remaining victims were civilians. The violence erupted a day before the JAAC's planned long march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad, scheduled to begin at 2 pm on Wednesday (Pakistan Standard Time). With the march "expected to draw large crowds", authorities have deployed nearly 4,000 Rangers, police and Frontier Corps personnel across POK, according to BBC Urdu.
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