Pakistani media has launched a fresh campaign targeting the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) diaspora, blaming them for crimes in Europe and linking alleged criminal behaviour to ethnicity, language, and cultural practices — a narrative shift that analysts argue mirrors the propaganda tactics Islamabad once deployed against East Pakistan before the 1971 war. The sudden change in tone, according to observers, is a response to growing unrest inside PoJK itself, not a genuine reckoning with facts.

Pakistan's Colonial Hold on PoJK

Pakistan has long treated the people of PoJK — including Gilgit Baltistan — as colonial subjects, according to critics and regional analysts. Residents are reportedly denied basic constitutional rights, kept dependent on limited state handouts, and afforded minimal legislative authority. This stands in stark contrast to the region's resource wealth: PoJK is said to supply Pakistan with forests, precious stones, heavy metals, gold, copper, and uranium, and provides the majority of water through multiple dams built to serve Pakistani energy needs.

The region also functions as Pakistan's sole free transit corridor to China, its most strategically important partner. For decades, critics argue, the Pakistani military has leveraged PoJK's territory and population as strategic assets against both India and Afghanistan, with senior generals reportedly profiting substantially from the arrangement.

Growing Frustration as Indian J&K Develops

The discontent in PoJK has intensified as the economic and political situation in Indian Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has improved, according to regional observers. Many PoJK residents reportedly believe that India has delivered significantly more development to its side of the divide than Pakistan has to the occupied region under its control. Protests have erupted with locals demanding constitutional rights, citizenship protections, and meaningful internal autonomy.

Pakistan's capacity to respond is severely constrained. After 78 years, Pakistan's national GDP reportedly remains lower than that of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Per capita income has declined since 2025, and education and health budgets have been cut amid a funding crisis. In Gilgit Baltistan, residents endure an average of 20 hours of power outages daily, while the population of India's Ladakh reportedly has uninterrupted electricity. Pakistan has also imposed what critics describe as one of Asia's highest fuel taxes on inhabitants to cover state expenses — a move that has deepened public anger toward both the government and the military.

The East Pakistan Playbook, Repeated

According to Senge Sering, founder of the Washington-based Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies, the Pakistani army is now deploying in PoJK the same crowd-management tactics it once used in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and Balochistan. On one front, security forces have reportedly killed dozens of local protesters and abducted hundreds. On another, state-aligned media is being used to portray PoJK residents as criminals and traitors — a strategy designed, critics say, to legitimise what Sering calls 'bare brutality and unlawful hegemony.'

The parallel with East Pakistan is pointed. When Bengalis took to the streets for basic rights in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pakistani media characterised them as uncivilised, ungrateful, and as instruments of Indian interference — a narrative that preceded the military crackdown of 1971. Today, a similar framing is reportedly being applied to PoJK, with media outlets suggesting that military action is necessitated by the locals' own conduct rather than by state repression.

Why PoJK Residents Are Rejecting the Narrative

Sering argues that PoJK residents have studied the outcomes in East Pakistan, Pashtunistan, Afghanistan, and Balochistan and understand how Islamabad uses ethnicity and religion as tools to deny rights and perpetuate occupation. As a result, he contends, locals are increasingly rejecting both the rulers and their tactics, and are demanding a full withdrawal of Pakistani authority. The views expressed by Sering are personal and represent his analysis as a researcher at the Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies in Washington.

Whether Pakistan's establishment recalibrates its approach or doubles down on suppression will likely determine the trajectory of unrest in the region in the months ahead.