The United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) held a demonstration at the Broken Chair monument outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on Friday, coinciding with the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The protest aimed to draw global attention to the worsening human rights crisis in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Protest Demands and Key Incidents
Protesters condemned the Pakistani military and security forces, specifically citing the June 7 firing incident in Rawalakot that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. UKPNP leaders, including Jamil Maqsood and Amjad Yousuf, called for international intervention. The party formally urged the UNHRC to press Pakistan to withdraw its security forces from the region and end the ongoing siege of Rawalakot.
Organisers demanded an independent international investigation into the use of force against civilians and the suppression of peaceful dissent.
Quotes from UKPNP Leaders
Jamil Maqsood, President of UKPNP's Foreign Affairs Committee, told ANI: "We demand the international community and the United Nations Human Rights Council to use its office to ask Pakistan to withdraw its security forces and end the siege of Rawalakot."
Amjad Yousuf, a UKPNP member, stated: "Currently, two lakh people are staging a sit-in in Rawalakot, demanding the fulfilment of their basic rights. However, the authorities have declared the Kashmiris' action committee... to be an outlawed organisation and have placed bounties on the heads of its members." He added that the situation remains tense, with cuts to medicine and food supplies severely affecting essential services.
Ground Situation in PoJK
According to UKPNP and the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the region is under total military occupation. Authorities have branded the local Action Committee as outlawed and placed bounties on its members. For the past 12 days, normal life has been paralysed, with severe shortages of food and medicine. Schools, hospitals, and internet services remain largely inaccessible.
Activists allege that the injured are being detained rather than treated, and local leadership has fled due to fear of persecution. While Pakistani officials claim a return to normalcy, the JAAC asserts these claims are contradicted by ground realities.
International Campaign
The Geneva demonstration is a centrepiece of UKPNP's campaign to internationalise the struggle for human rights and justice in PoJK, ensuring the plight of the region is not ignored by the global community.
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