Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) is on edge. A shutdown call by the Neelum Valley Public Action Committee, led by Shaukat Nawaz Mir, has triggered a standoff between ordinary citizens demanding rights and a government that has vowed to respond with force.
Mir, speaking on behalf of the committee, as quoted by ANI, said that the region’s people have been pushed to the limit by years of neglect, corruption, and broken promises. From healthcare to education, clean water to infrastructure, citizens say they are starved of basic services while political patronage and bribery swallow resources.
“The people’s patience has reached its limit,” Mir declared, calling the shutdown a direct response to Islamabad’s failure to deliver.
Government warns of crackdown
Instead of dialogue, the PoJK government issued a blunt warning: the strike will be 'crushed with force' if it goes ahead. The statement has only added fuel to the fire.
Lawyers in Muzaffarabad have stepped forward, backing the strike as a democratic right, ANI reported. 'Public demands must be met, not crushed,' one senior lawyer said, vowing that the legal community will stand with the protesters. Civil society groups warn that heavy-handed tactics could spark unrest across the region.
If carried out, the shutdown is expected to paralyse daily life, shops closed, transport halted, markets empty. The confrontation could mark one of the most serious tests of Islamabad’s grip over PoJK in years.
The international spotlight: Tasleema Akhter at the UN
While the shutdown call dominates PoJK, Kashmiri activist Tasleema Akhter has taken the fight to the global stage. Speaking at the United Nations, she exposed Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to ANI, Akhter, who leads the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir, recounted attacks like Pulwama and Pahalgam, stressing that children, women, and men have all been targeted. “Children, women, and men are being targeted just to spread terror,” she said, urging the UN to hold Pakistan accountable and choke off terror financing.
She contrasted the situation in Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir with PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Since the abrogation of Article 370, she said, separatist violence has dropped, infrastructure projects have advanced, and youth are pursuing education, skills, and entrepreneurship. In PoJK, by contrast, residents remain deprived of freedoms and live under the constant shadow of Pakistani security forces.
Not the first uprising
This isn’t the first time PoJK has erupted. In 2023 and 2024, residents staged similar strikes and protests demanding subsidies and relief packages. Those movements ended only after Islamabad announced financial concessions.
But this time, the anger runs deeper. The protests are no longer about wheat prices or temporary relief. Citizens are demanding accountability, transparency in fund allocation, and an end to corruption tied to local governance schemes. Public Action Committees across districts have been mobilising residents, suggesting broader participation than earlier protests.
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