The people of Pakistani administered Jammu Kashmir have entered a
new phase of mass resistance. The struggle is still unfolding, the march
is still advancing, and the state has not been able to break the will
of the people. Despite killings, mass injuries, curfew, communication
blackout, road blockades, tear gas, raids, arrests, and a full-scale
propaganda campaign, protesters have continued their march toward
Muzaffarabad.
Millions of protesters have overcome multiple barriers and reached
the outskirts of Rawalakot. Their arrival near Rawalakot is especially
significant because this is the same city where the state tried to drown
the movement in blood on the night of June 6. The state has
unsuccessfully tried to stop the march through blockades and the
deployment of FC, Rangers, and police. Yet the people have pushed
through every attempt to isolate, frighten, and divide them!
Despite the killing of around 24 protesters (the actual number could
be higher, but the internet blockade has made independent verification
impossible) and the injury of hundreds, people have come out in millions
for their democratic rights. The movement has shown that bullets cannot
silence the demand for basic democratic rights, control over local
resources, and popular sovereignty.
There are also reports that the homes of Joint Awami Action Committee
(JAAC) leaders, activists, and workers are being raided by FC, Rangers,
and other state forces. These raids are a direct attempt to terrorize
the leadership, punish families, and break the organizational strength
of the movement. This must immediately end!
Jammu Kashmir National Student Federation not only strongly supports
the people’s democratic struggle but is also part of this struggle from
the very beginning, and our comrades are in its front rows. JKNSF
salutes the courage of all those who have faced bullets, tear gas,
curfew, blockades, blackouts, arrests, raids, and propaganda. The people
have shown that this movement cannot be crushed by force!
We again reiterate our demands:
- Immediate lifting of curfew in Poonch and all other affected areas.
- Immediate and unconditional restoration of internet and communication services across Jammu Kashmir.
- Immediate return of the bodies of all those martyred during the
repression, and an end to any attempt by the authorities to withhold,
conceal, or deny families the right to bury their loved ones with
dignity.
- Immediate end to all blockades and restrictions on the march toward Muzaffarabad.
- No firing, shelling, arrests, raids, or administrative obstruction against protesters marching toward Muzaffarabad.
- Immediate withdrawal of FC, Rangers, police contingents, and all additional forces sent from Pakistan into Jammu Kashmir.
- Immediate end to raids on the homes of activists, workers, and their families.
- Immediate reversal of the decision to proscribe the JAAC.
- Immediate withdrawal of all cases, FIRs, sedition charges, and legal
proceedings against protesters, activists, and JAAC leaders.
- The Inspector General of Police in Jammu Kashmir must be charged with the murder of the people killed by state forces.
- The puppet Prime Minister of Jammu Kashmir must immediately resign
for presiding over this bloodshed and acting as an instrument of
Pakistani state repression.
- All demands of the people of Jammu Kashmir must be fulfilled as promised.
We call upon the working class of Pakistan to reject the state’s
propaganda and stand with the oppressed people of Jammu Kashmir. The
workers, peasants, students, and poor of Pakistan have no interest in
the repression of Jammu Kashmir. Their enemy is the same ruling elite
that loots, exploits, censors, and crushes every democratic movement.
We call upon leftist and progressive organizations, trade unions
across Pakistan and the region to actively stand in solidarity with this
movement, expose the lies of the state, oppose the deployment of
forces, and defend the democratic rights of the people of Jammu Kashmir.
We also call upon the international working class and oppressed
peoples of the entire world to stand with the masses of Jammu Kashmir.
This is a struggle against occupation, exploitation, political
subordination, and state violence. Its victory belongs not only to one
region, but to every oppressed people fighting for dignity, freedom, and
collective power.
Knowledge, Struggle, Victory!
