‘Rawalakot filled with dead bodies’: 14 killed in PoK poll clashes; India hits out at Pakistan

The banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Tuesday (July 28) claimed that 14 of its activists were killed and more than two dozen were injured in clashes with Pakistani security personnel during the first phase of elections for the legislative Assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Law enforcement authorities in the region disputed the death toll and accused JAAC protesters of opening fire on security personnel. Some reports said 20 have been killed in the last 24 hours.

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The JAAC has been holding a series of protests in PoK since last month over 12 contentious seats of the regional legislative Assembly. It alleges that the establishment manoeuvres these seats to install a prime minister of its choosing.

‘Security personnel opened fire’

The JAAC claimed that its activists were killed when law-enforcement personnel opened fire on participants of the long march.

JAAC core committee member Abid Shaheen told BBC that around a dozen activists had been killed and more than 20 wounded during clashes on Monday.

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Another committee member, Imtiaz Aslam, put the death toll at 14 and said those killed included Usman Nazir, younger brother of JAAC founding member Umar Nazir.

Shaheen claimed the bodies had been taken to a medical camp near Drek, where the JAAC has been staging a sit-in for one-and-a-half months.

As the first phase of polls was held on Monday on 13 seats, the JAAC held a long march from Rawalakot towards the regional capital Muzaffarabad.

‘Rawalakot is filled with dead bodies and the wounded’

Aqeel Bhai, a social media influencer in PoK said that Rawalakot was “filled with dead bodies and the wounded”.

"Friends, the situation has become dire. Rawalakot is filled with dead bodies and the wounded. For God's sake, stand with us right now; please, stand with us," Bhai said in a video message.

"I have just barely escaped with my life. I no longer care about my own survival. After seeing so many brothers martyred. I have come here to plead with you with folded hands. Please have some conscience; to all the international media watching, please support us. We are peaceful people. Countless dead bodies, countless wounded. Our shoulders are exhausted from carrying the bodies," he added.

India blasts Pakistan over PoK elections

On Tuesday, India described the elections in PoK as an attempt by Islamabad to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its "grave" human rights violations in the region.

"The current cosmetic electoral exercise is nothing but an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its grave human rights violations in the region," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his bi-weekly media briefing.

He reiterated that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan's "illegal and forcible occupation", are parts of India.

"India's position on this matter has been clear, consistent, and well known. The entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan's illegal and forcible occupation, are integral and inalienable parts of India." "As we have stated earlier, the ongoing mass protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir are the direct consequences of Pakistan's economic exploitation, its denial of the people's fundamental rights, and its administrative oppression," he said.

(With agency inputs)