India has raised the Rawalakot protest deaths at the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing Pakistan of using force against people in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who were demanding basic economic and political rights.
Speaking in Geneva, diplomat Anupama Singh said the situation in PoJK had exposed what New Delhi described as a pattern of repression in territories under Pakistan’s control. “Demands for bread were met with bullets and brutality,” she said, referring to the violence that followed protests in Rawalakot, the capital of Poonch district in the region Pakistan calls Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The intervention marked a sharper effort by New Delhi to place conditions in PoJK before an international human rights forum, after unrest that left civilians and security personnel dead and dozens wounded. The remarks came during a wider exchange at the UNHRC in which Pakistan again raised Jammu and Kashmir, prompting India to reject Islamabad’s position and accuse it of diverting attention from rights concerns in areas it administers.
Rawalakot became the centre of confrontation after supporters of the Joint Awami Action Committee, a civil society platform made up of traders, transporters, lawyers, students and local groups, mobilised over long-running grievances linked to representation, electricity tariffs, wheat subsidies and the cost of essentials. Protest organisers have framed the agitation as a demand for fairer political rights and relief from economic pressure, while authorities have described parts of the mobilisation as unlawful and disruptive.
The clashes followed a ruling by the Supreme Court of Pakistan-administered Kashmir upholding the constitutional protection of 12 legislative seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan. The JAAC has opposed those seats, arguing that they dilute local representation by allowing non-resident voters to influence the region’s assembly. Authorities maintain that the seats cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment.
Security measures were intensified after the JAAC was designated a proscribed organisation under regional anti-terror legislation on 5 June. Internet and mobile services were suspended across the region ahead of a planned 9 June rally, while additional police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in key towns. Arrests, travel restrictions and warrants against protest leaders deepened tensions before the strike and long march called by the group.
Reports from the region have put the Rawalakot death toll between seven and 11, with more than 70 people injured. Officials have said security personnel were among those killed and accused armed protesters of firing on police, vandalising property and obstructing public services. Protesters and rights campaigners have alleged excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, communication blackouts and attempts to criminalise dissent.
India’s statement sought to link the Rawalakot violence to a broader rights and governance dispute in PoJK. Singh argued that Pakistan had no standing to comment on Jammu and Kashmir while, in New Delhi’s view, suppressing voices in territories it occupied. She reiterated India’s position that Jammu and Kashmir, including areas under Pakistan’s control, remains an integral part of India, and that the only unresolved issue is the vacation of those territories by Pakistan.
Pakistan rejects that position and has consistently sought international attention on Kashmir, describing the dispute as unfinished business from Partition. Islamabad has also accused New Delhi of restricting civil liberties and political freedoms in Jammu and Kashmir. India has dismissed those charges as propaganda, pointing to elections, development spending, infrastructure expansion and administrative integration in the Union Territory.
The UNHRC exchange came as elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are scheduled for 27 July, raising the political stakes around the dispute over reserved seats. The JAAC’s campaign has drawn support from sections of the local population frustrated by high prices, power costs and perceived political exclusion. Its earlier protests over flour and electricity subsidies had forced negotiations with authorities, but the latest confrontation has hardened positions on both sides.
Rights groups have warned that the use of anti-terror laws against protest movements risks closing space for peaceful mobilisation. The communications blackout has also drawn concern because it limited the ability of residents, journalists and families to verify casualties, document arrests and contact those caught in the unrest. Authorities have defended the restrictions as necessary to prevent violence and maintain public order.
