India, taking a keen interest in the growing uprising in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu Kashmir, made a strong statement on Friday, as officials confirmed at least eight people died on Thursday.
Releasing the statement on the conflict, India has expressed concern about the ongoing clashes between the protestors and law enforcement agencies.
India’s MEA Spokesperson says, “We have seen reports on protests in several areas of Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir, including brutalities by Pakistani forces on innocent civilians. We believe that it is a natural consequence of Pakistan’s oppressive approach and its systemic plundering of resources from these territories, which remain under its forcible and illegal occupation. Pakistan must be held accountable for its horrific human rights violations.”
#BREAKING: India makes a strong statement on civilian uprising protests and Pakistani state brutalities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India’s MEA Spokesperson @MEAIndia says, “We have seen reports on protests in several areas of Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir,… pic.twitter.com/cB16ZnADTa
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 3, 2025
Control over the territory of Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India, which have disputed it since the two countries were formed in 1947.
The protest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir began on Monday, as thousands took to the streets of Muzaffarabad, the capital of the territory, to demand an end to lucrative benefits for the political class, such as free electricity and expensive cars.
The Joint Action Committee, a coalition of businessmen, students, lawyers and civil society activists, has channelled the resentment into the street demonstrations, shaking the regional administrations. The clashes turned violent when rival marches by the Action Committee and the pro-government Muslim Conference converged at Neelam Bridge.
Authorities blocked internet and mobile phone services. Officials also reportedly warned local media against covering the events.
According to AFP news agency reporters on the ground, streets were stained with blood and littered with spent bullet casings, shards of glass, and scattered stones.
Three policemen and five civilians have been killed so far, according to two security officials who spoke to Reuters news agency. The officials confirmed that clashes had been ongoing since the protests began on Monday.
Pakistani TV reported that businesses, schools, and transportation services went on strike in response to the unrest.
The police were forced to fire tear gas and swung batons at protesters, hurled stones, and raised barricades. Each side accused the other of firing live rounds. A young man was killed in the clash, and his family’s sit-in has since paralysed the traffic in Chaila Bandi neighbourhood.
Since then, the city has been shut down, shops are shuttered, schools are closed, and public transport has stopped running, with shortages of food and medicine. Internet and phone services have been shut down, almost unreliable in the mountainous region have largely been cut, leaving families isolated and rumours unchecked.
Security forces, including paramilitary rangers, have ringed government buildings, closing main roads with concrete blocks, shipping containers, and barbed wire. Protests have also flared in other towns across the region, with fresh clashes erupting whenever the demonstrators tear down the police barricades.
Roots of the Crisis
The Kashmir region, divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, remains one of the world’s most volatile flashpoints. It has witnessed repeated skirmishes and several full-scale wars between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, most recently in May. Given this history, the latest protests in Azad Kashmir are drawing extensive international media attention. Indian outlets, in particular, are giving prominent coverage to the crisis, highlighting both the growing confrontation between the government and protesters and the potential for wider escalation.
Protest Demands
The demonstrations, led by the Joint Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), began in 2023 with ten demands and have since expanded into a 38-point Charter.
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Economic relief: Cheaper electricity at production cost, subsidized wheat and flour, and royalty payments from AJK’s hydropower projects.
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Social welfare: Free healthcare, free education, jobs for youth, interest-free loans, and access to clean drinking water.
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Infrastructure: Expressways, tunnels in remote valleys, and the establishment of an international airport.
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Political reforms: Abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for Kashmiri migrants in Pakistan, and judicial reforms for greater transparency.
The government had earlier announced $83 million in subsidies, leading to tariff cuts and flour price controls, but the protesters insist that deeper reforms are needed.
International and Diaspora Reactions
In Britain, the sizable Kashmiri community staged rallies this week in London and Birmingham, amplifying the crisis on the international stage. Indian media outlets have also given the protests prominent coverage.
International human rights agencies, including Amnesty, have called for calm in the region in their report on the ongoing clashes and protests in Azad Kashmir. The organization has urged the “Pakistan authorities to ensure there are no further injuries or loss of life and that there should be an immediate, impartial and transparent investigation into all incidents of deaths and injuries, including investigating the excessive use of force by law enforcement and all those responsible must be held to account.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the situation, offering to set up a committee of senior officials to resolve the conflict.
“The government is always ready to resolve the problems of our Kashmiri brothers,” he said.
The committee would be responsible for investigating the violence that occurred and seeking dialogue with protesters, according to Sharif’s office, which issued a press release.
The protests have been led by the Awami Action Committee (AAC), a civil rights organization formed to fight for local rights in the mostly rural, Muslim-majority region. AAC protest leader Shaukat Nawaz said police had fired at protesters.
Pakistan Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam held negotiations with the JKJ-AAC representatives last week, which resulted in no tangible results. The deadlock remains mainly with the dissolution of the AJK Assemblies and seats reserved for Kashmiri migrants.
Read more: Protests in AJK Escalate over 38-Point Charter: One dead, region shutdown
Decades of unkept promises and stalled electoral processes have developed deep resentment in the locals towards local politicians. Protesters are adamant that they will not stand down unless there is a real action to end elite privileges and improve the territory’s governance. The point of clash is the allocation of assembly seats to representatives from outside the region. Protest leaders say that these positions are often leveraged by political actors in Pakistan to influence or unseat local governments.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has attributed the unrest in Azad Jammu & Kashmir to “unidentified enemies,” alleging that a small group of agitators is acting on external directives to disrupt peace in the region. “They will not succeed,” he said, during a visit to the injured police officers at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital in Islamabad.
From GVS South Asia Desk with Inputs from AFP