Police officers stand on a bridge as they stop the protesters of the Awami Action Committee during a protest following a shutter-down strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), October 1, 2025. REUTERS/Naseer ud Din
India has condemned the ongoing violence in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir where reports indicate 30 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in firing by the Pakistani Rangers and elements of the Pak Army.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry said the international community should hold the Pakistani government responsible for its misdeeds and repeated failures.
Fifty British MPs have written to the foreign secretary Yevette Cooper expressing concern over reports of a communications blackout, arrests, and escalating tensions in the territory.
According to a statement from Shaukat Mir, leader of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee, Rangers and the army have been firing directly into unarmed crowds.
This follows reports that the police refused to fire on the demonstrators when ordered to do so by Liaqat Ali Malik, their Inspector General. Malik has reportedly sought the protection of the Rangers.
The trigger for the current round of violence is the reservation of 12 seats in the territory’s legislature for refugees displaced from other parts of Kashmir due to wars between India and Pakistan.
All the nominees for the seats are made by the Pak Army, and not only do they vote in the territory’s legislature, they also vote in elections for the legislature of which ever Pakistani province they have settled in. Of course they also vote in the national elections.
These 12 also tend to change their political colours depending on what directions they receive from the army.
The Joint Awami Action Committee wants this stopped. They have listed over 30 demands of which only two have reportedly been conceded: these include reducing the cost of electricity from Rs 50 to 15 (the power is generated by dams in the territory, transmitted to Punjab which then sends it back after a mark up); and compensation for those families who lost members during a similar agitation in August last year.
Dawn newspaper reported that the territory’s so-called Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, has urged a return to the negotiating table, in a bid to end the tensions. But all indications are the people will return to the streets tomorrow.n
