Protests in POJK impact Pak security The Excelsior 02 Aug 2026
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Protests in POJK impact Pak security The Excelsior 02 Aug 2026
POJK has been on the boil with its residents protesting for their rights for over 45 days with no sign of abating. The government, despite being aware that their demands are genuine, refuses to negotiate. On the contrary, it is employing every dirty trick to break the will of the protestors, but failing each time. It declared the JAAC (Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee), a non-political organization spearheading the protests, as illegal on 05 Jun and placed a bounty on the head of its leaders. Some have been arrested, while few killed. Many remain in hiding.
The Pak army blocked movement of food and medicines into the region as also shut down all communication within. The intent is to isolate POK, after which they can then target Kashmiris at will. There are already reports of rape and extra-judicial killings in POJK, suppressed from global eyes. It appears to be a repeat of what happened in East Pakistan and now Baluchistan.
To enforce its application of maximum force it infiltrated thugs and members of anti-India terrorist groups into peaceful protests, thereby enhancing levels of violence, opening doors to retaliation. Its armed forces, under orders from their failed marshal, have repeatedly fired on unarmed protestors. Scores have been killed and hundreds wounded for whom there is little medical treatment. All this has failed to deter the protestors, who have been labelled as agents of India by their so-called defence minister.
Such has been local anger that a leader of the JAAC, Sardar Aman Khan, announced in front of a large rally, ‘Kashmir is not disputed territory. It is occupied territory. And it was never truly Azad.’ This is reality and is now being exposed by Kashmiris across the world by protesting in front of Pakistan’s embassies and consulates every day, an embarrassment to the state. Desperation has grown to such levels that POJK residents are now appealing to India for medical and food supplies blocked by the Pak government.
The problem could have been nipped in the bud by simple negotiations but rose because of ego of the military leadership. Shehbaz Sharief and his puppet government can do little without approval of the failed marshal, who is busy travelling across the world, seeking to negotiate between warring factions, but failing everywhere. This, while his own backyard, POJK, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa burn to ashes and his soldiers die while his DG ISPR projects fake success.
There is hardly any criticism from across the globe on the killing of innocents in POJK. Had it been J and K, there would have been adverse comments from the UN Secretary General, Human Rights groups and multiple western nations. Only the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, appealed for calm in POJK while calling for ‘prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all deaths (including military personnel).’ A simple curfew by the Indian government in Kashmir is adversely commented upon while extra-judicial killings and rapes largely go unquestioned in POJK. The silence is partially because nothing emerges in media while lives are lost to firings, innocents vanish and bodies appear in ditches, riddled with bullet wounds. Such global hypocrisy will only add to confidence of the Pak army to continue its genocide.
For once, even Kashmiris on the Indian side are concerned with the ongoing massacre across the LoC. Mirwaiz Farooq, a Kashmiri separatist leader as also the 14th Mirwaiz of Kashmir, who once espoused a pro-Pakistan approach has expressed concern on the killings. The dreams of Pak promoting POJK as ‘Azad Kashmir’ and attempting to brainwash those on the Indian side to join them are now over. It is surprising that Mushaal Hussein Malik, wife of separatist leader Yasin Malik, currently lodged in Tihar jail, has been silent throughout the protests, while claiming to be a die-hard Kashmiri.
The reality is that the Pakistan leadership has no love for Kashmiris or Kashmir. Its only interest is securing its sources of water which emanate from the region as also for its road connectivity with China through the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor). Loss of Kashmiri lives has no impact in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. This will remain unless world pressure mounts on the government of Pakistan.
To cover its human rights abuses it accuses India of orchestrating the unrest, unwilling to look inwards. This has been a common Pak trait. In response, the Indian foreign ministry mentioned, ‘Rather than addressing the legitimate grievances of the local populace, the Pakistani state has responded with extreme police brutality, including against helpless women and children, blocking essential supplies, including food and medicine, enforcing internet blackouts, and deploying lethal force against unarmed civilians that has resulted in tragic fatalities.’
It is time India raises this in the UN Security Council as also in the UN Human Rights Council, embarrassing Pak and forcing it to respond.
These protests are impacting Pakistan in multiple ways. With all roads blocked, movement for the Pak army to its posts in POJK has been curtailed. It has been forced to resort to air maintenance of its troops deployed opposite India. In case of any operation by India, movement of reserves, re-supplies and additional troops would not be easy.
Simultaneously, there is an economic loss, as the CPEC, which transits through POJK, after entering Pakistan in Gilgit Baltistan, remains affected. There are reports of vehicles lined up along the road. The movement of almost 8000 security force personnel into the region to curb the uprising is impacting Pakistan’s security and economy. With multiple simultaneous uprisings, Pakistan faces a decision dilemma. Pulling out troops from either its western provinces or along the LoC is a security risk. Its only option is to move in rangers and other security personnel from inside Pak, opening doors for increased protests and violence within.
A major fallout is that the Pak army has lost all support of POJK residents. Their firing on civilians and use of disproportionate force has resulted in the Pak army being termed as ‘occupiers.’ This will play a major role in any future conflict. It is only a matter of time before the people of POJK realize that the only option left for them is to pick up the gun as being done in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The day this happens; Pak would be in deep trouble.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army