Academics, diaspora organisations and civil society groups have in recent weeks made urgent, coordinated appeals to bring Pakistan's government and a banned protest movement in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the negotiating table.
Those appeals have so far produced no ceasefire, no talks and no lifting of a communications blackout that has left the region largely in the dark about what is happening on the ground since the last three weeks.
The Jammu Kashmir Global Academic & Policy Network (JKGAPN), a collective of academics, researchers and policy experts of Kashmiri origin spanning the region and the international diaspora, issued a formal advisory note calling on Pakistani and AJK authorities to revoke the proscription of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), lift the internet blockade, restore civil liberties and move disputes over the refugee assembly seats into constitutional or political channels rather than resolving them through police action.
It advised the JKJAAC leadership to suspend further marches unilaterally and consider transitioning to electoral participation, recognising what it described as "an unprecedented public mandate" already demonstrated by the movement.
The network's recommendations to Pakistani and PaJK authorities were to revoke the terrorist designation of the JKJAAC, lift the internet blockade and ensure unimpeded supply of food and essential goods, remove peaceful activists from the Exit Control List as confidence-building measures before substantive negotiations, and honour existing commitments on subsidies and reforms already agreed to.
It also asked the JKJAAC leadership to suspend further marches unilaterally, particularly given the Ashura period, where further confrontation risked avoidable casualties during a time of religious significance. The network said the JKJAAC had already won the battle for public legitimacy.
It warned that if sincere dialogue was not engaged and public demands remained unmet, the extreme sense of alienation among young people who had witnessed violence by Pakistani forces could be exploited as part of a proxy conflict.
Meanwhile, a civil society delegation, including Javed Rathore, Sardar Mumtaz Khan and Shafeeq Butt, called upon various government functionaries including the deputy chairman Senate and pushed for a negotiated resolution of the confrontation between the JAAC and the governments of PaJK and Pakistan.
Protests and Crackdown
Rawalakot, the capital of Poonch district in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, remains tense. Markets are shut, roads are blocked by security forces and barricades, and mobile and internet services have been suspended for three weeks.
Protests and peace marches continue, as do clashes between security forces and activists of the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee. Casualty figures remain disputed and independently unverifiable.
The JKJAAC is a coalition of traders, lawyers, transporters and community activists that emerged in 2023 in protest over soaring electricity bills and wheat shortages. It compiled a 38-point charter of demands covering governance, public services, tariffs, land rights, healthcare, education and accountability. Among its central demands was the abolition of 12 seats in the PaJK Legislative Assembly reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in mainland Pakistan, an arrangement critics say mainstream Pakistani parties use to influence government formation in Muzaffarabad.
The movement led protests in May 2024 and again in September–October 2025, when at least nine people were killed. The governments of Pakistan and PaJK signed the Muzaffarabad Agreement on October 4, 2025, committing to implement the JKJAAC's core demands within three months. By April 2026, the majority of those demands remained unimplemented. The JKJAAC kept the door open for dialogue until May 31, then announced a Long March to Muzaffarabad for June 9.
On June 5, the PaJK Home Department proscribed the JKJAAC under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2014. That same night, a trader named Shahzaib Habib, affiliated with the JKJAAC, was shot dead near Barmang bridge in Rawalakot, allegedly by Rangers. Umar Nazir Kashmiri, a JKJAAC core committee member who survived the same incident, reportedly suffered two gunshot wounds. In the 18 hours following the ban, police announced the arrest of approximately 72 people linked to the proscribed organisation.
In the ensuing protests on June 7, seven civilians and four law enforcement personnel were killed and dozens injured. Police alleged that JKJAAC activists opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack. The JKJAAC stated that electricity was cut before forces opened fire on a peaceful sit-in in the dark.
Since then, the region has been embroiled in violent clashes, a security crackdown and continuing protest marches, with heavy casualties on both sides.
Communication Blockade
Death tolls reported across sources vary significantly, reflecting both the communications blackout and contested accounts of each incident. According to modest estimates, more than 20 people have been killed so far. Human rights reports and local sources have alleged around 500 injured and more than 300 missing, figures that cannot be independently confirmed.
Rangers personnel prevented journalists from entering CMH Rawalakot, making independent verification of casualty figures impossible.
The communications blackout has severely distorted the information reaching outside the region. What little has emerged - through phone calls, fragmentary social media posts and accounts from those who have left the region - has been surrounded by unverified claims and contested footage. The Pakistani government urged the public not to be swayed by what officials described as propaganda and fake news circulating on social media as part of a specific agenda.
At the same time, footage from the protests has circulated widely on Indian social media, where the crisis has attracted attention in the context of the long-standing India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir. Both countries claim the territory in full.
The JKJAAC's demands are for civic rights and governance reforms within the existing framework; the movement has stated publicly that its platform was to remain focused on civic and economic concerns.
Human Rights Violations and Missing Persons
Across multiple human rights reports and family accounts, a pattern has been documented of bodies allegedly withheld from families pending the signing of statements, and of individuals taken into custody from hospitals where they were receiving treatment, with families subsequently denied information about their whereabouts.
According to one report, Fahad Barkat, a school-shift driver approximately 26 years old and a resident of Rehara, Rawalakot, who went to CMH Rawalakot after being told that blood was needed for the injured. He was killed outside the hospital. According to family-linked sources, his body was not handed over to his family. Families were reportedly told they must sign a statement saying their son was a terrorist killed in a police encounter before the body would be released.
The case of Usman Sabir of Khai Gala, killed outside CMH Rawalakot on 7 June, is separately documented. His brother Imran reported that police seized the body in front of him and took it to an unknown location. When he went to the police station the following day, he was told the body had been buried. He confirmed that some families were handed bodies only after signing statements branding the deceased a terrorist.
Three further missing persons cases were brought to the Human Rights Council of PaJK in a formal urgent appeal by the diaspora community in Sweden.
The first case concerns Amjad Khan, a resident of Banjonsa Tehsil, Rawalakot, District Poonch, described as a person with disabilities unable to hear or speak, held in police custody since 9 June 2026. Family members and local sources have alleged he has been subjected to mistreatment while in custody and denied access to appropriate medical care.
The second concerns Sharib Ali, 21, son of Muhammad Jafeer Khan, a resident of Danna Koterie Village, Banjonsa, who sustained injuries during police firing on 7 June 2026 and was allegedly taken into police custody while receiving treatment at CMH Rawalakot. His family reports they have not been permitted to visit him and allege he has been denied adequate medical care.
The third concerns Danial Khan, 22, son of Baniyat Khan, a resident of Morra Miralgala, who sustained injuries during police firing on 7 June 2026 and was allegedly transferred into police custody from CMH Rawalakot. His family reports they have been denied access to him and remain concerned he is not receiving appropriate medical treatment.
Earlier, the JKJAAC Human Rights Cell documented 107 individuals detained at Rawalakot Police Station on 7 June alone, with allegations of beatings, denial of water, inadequate food and drink, and delayed or refused medical treatment.
It additionally documented field reports estimating more than 50,000 people in Rawalakot city and more than 300,000 in surrounding areas were potentially affected. The PaJK Commissioner stated that the situation had returned to normal following the initial clashes. The Pakistani government has not confirmed the existence of a blockade.
Diaspora Appeals to Governments and International Bodies
As the blackout tightened inside PaJK, Kashmiri diaspora communities across the United Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere directed formal appeals to their governments and to international organisations.
British Kashmiri community organisations mounted a coordinated campaign at Westminster. An Early Day Motion (EDM 310) was tabled and signed. The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir wrote to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, with the letter co-signed by 30 to 31 MPs, urging intervention.
Thousands of British Kashmiris gathered outside the Palace of Westminster on June 14 and June 21 to march to 10 Downing Street. UK MP Bob Blackman stated publicly that British nationals were reportedly injured in PaJK and called on the government to immediately press for the lifting of the food and medicine blockade and to ensure that medicine reached hospitals and that British Kashmiris were protected.
Members of the Kashmiri diaspora in Belgium staged a protest outside the European Parliament in Brussels on June 19, carrying banners reading "Stop human rights violations in PoJK," "Return the bodies to their families," "Release detainees, families deserve answers," and "Europe must hear."
Formal written appeals were also directed to the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international organizations by diaspora members and organisations including South Asia Peace Forum, Canada.
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