A voluntary shutdown and wheel jam strike continue in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, PoJK. The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has urged people of the PoJK to participate in the protests on July 23, with full strength to demand implementation of their demands and pray for those who were killed by Pakistani authorities during the movement. In a social media post, JAAC has termed July 23 as a day of utmost importance. T
he JAAC leaders slammed the Pakistani authorities, describing the rulers as killers of the innocent people who have been murdered in retaliation for demanding their rights. JAAC said that an individual, identified as Jibran Mushtaq Faram Taraar, a resident of Rawalakot, who was undergoing treatment in Islamabad after being shot in the head by forces, has succumbed to his injuries. Last week, even as the unrest in PoJK claimed over 30 lives, JAAC suspended its planned long march till today, giving the Pakistani government what it described as one final opportunity to address its demands.
Earlier, the United Nations Human Rights agency had voiced concern over the wave of unrest in the PoJK, calling for investigations into the deaths of protesters. New Delhi had said, the ongoing protests in the PoJK are a direct consequence of Pakistan’s decades-long systemic exploitation, denial of fundamental rights and administrative oppression in areas under its illegal and forcible occupation.
