Recent weeks have seen a deadly escalation of repression in Pakistan-administered Jammu Kashmir. In June and July, the Pakistani armed forced have killed at least 90 people. Only between July 28 to July 30, at least 35 were killed in the city of Rawalakot. This followed a massacre in early June when security forces opened fire on a sit-in, killing at least ten people in Rawalakot.
This latest round of violence was the response of the Pakistani state to popular protests demanding democratic and social rights. These protests have notably been organized by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a social movement that has arisen in the last three years. The JAAC brings together civil society activists and democratic forces in a movement that demands both immediate economic relief for the people in Jammu Kashmir as well as democratic rights.
The Pakistani state has responded to this mass movement with a wide range of repressive measures in an attempt to crush it. The Pakistani state has even resorted to measures that amount to collective punishment by restricting access to food and medical care. But despite raids, arrests, a media black-out and the use of murderous force, the movement has persisted.
On paper, Jammu Kashmir is an autonomous region with its own parliament and its own prime minister. In reality, the region is under a form of control by the Pakistani state that can only be called colonial. One of the ways in which the Pakistani state ensures its control is through twelve seats in the Jammu Kashmir parliament (Legislative Assembly) that are officially designated to represent refugees from Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, now living in Pakistan. These seats are, however, controlled by the Pakistani state. The JAAC is fully justified in making the scrapping of these seats one of its core demands in its Charter of Demands.
While the use of violence is nothing new for the Pakistani state, the recent massacres are a brutal escalation of repression. It shows the unwillingness of the Pakistani state to meet legitimate democratic demands. But despite its murderous violence, the Pakistani state has not succeeded in breaking the movement. Organizing and protests continue with tens of thousands of people participating. Notably, women have been out on the streets in their thousands. This is a new development in Jammu Kashmir politics and shows the widespread support for the ongoing movement. Faced with lethal violence and the threat of even more killings, the people in Pakistan-administered Jammu Kashmir have shown their courage and determination.
- The Fourth International stands in solidarity with the people of Jammu Kashmir and the legitimate demands raised in the platform of JAAC.
- We call upon the democratic and progressive forces in Pakistan and worldwide to condemn the repression and violence.
- We demand justice for the many lives lost, an independent investigation into the killings, the withdrawal of security forces and an end to restrictions on access to food, fuel, and medical care.
As oppressed people elsewhere, the people of Jammu Kashmir have the right to determine their own future.
Statement by the Secretariat of the Executive Bureau of the Fourth International
31/07/2026