Deadly clashes between law enforcement personnel and protesters in Rawalakot, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), have left dozens dead and hundreds injured, according to multiple reports emerging on 9 June. The violence erupted in the wake of a sweeping crackdown by Pakistani authorities on the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a civil society coalition demanding economic relief and political rights for residents of the occupied territory.

Official Count vs Ground Reality

Sardar Waheed Khan, Commissioner of Poonch district in PoK, was quoted by Pakistani daily The News International as saying that 12 people were killed and several security officials injured in the clashes. Khan alleged that JAAC members targeted security personnel and that the protesters possessed modern weapons, framing the unrest as a law-and-order disruption.

However, multiple activists and journalists posting on social media have put the actual death toll significantly higher — in several dozens — though those claims could not be independently verified at the time of reporting.

How the Crackdown Unfolded

Pakistani authorities declared the JAAC a proscribed organisation under anti-terrorism laws ahead of its planned protest on Tuesday, 9 June. A pre-emptive crackdown was launched the preceding Saturday, during which several JAAC leaders and activists were arrested, including senior lawyer Amjad Ali Khan, a core member of the committee. The legal community of PoK boycotted judicial proceedings on the bar council's call, in protest against the arrest.

Hundreds of protesters converged on Quaid-i-Azam in Mirpur, while rallies led by JAAC core members Imtiaz Aslam and Khawaja Mehran marched toward Poonch district through Tatta Pani and Kotli respectively. Shops, markets, and courts remained shut across PoK, including in the capital Muzaffarabad, where streets were nearly empty with minimal vehicular movement, according to Dawn.

What the JAAC Is Demanding

The JAAC's central demand on Tuesday was the abolition of 12 legislative assembly seats reserved for Jammu and Kashmir refugees living in Pakistan. The committee contends that these seats are exploited by Pakistani political parties to influence government formation in PoK, effectively diluting the political agency of the territory's residents.

The JAAC has previously organised large-scale protests in PoK over soaring electricity bills — generated by the territory's own dams — vanishing subsidies, and what protesters describe as systematic economic marginalisation. This latest mobilisation represents an escalation of that long-running civil movement.

International Condemnation and Human Rights Concerns

Videos showing police personnel using force against civilians went viral on social media and drew condemnation from human rights advocates globally. Sabine Kayani, a UK-based Pakistani-origin human rights lawyer, was among the most vocal critics. In a post on X, Kayani wrote that the people of PoK 'demanded bread, electricity, dignity, and those rights stolen from their rivers and their future,' adding that 'the response came in the form of live fire and clouds of tear gas that choked the streets.'

Kayani further alleged that 'funerals turned into scenes of further violence, with reports of elders, women, and young men listed as martyrs — shot down as they buried their dead,' and accused Pakistan's army, 'under the command of General Asim Munir,' of 'turning grief into a massacre.' Those allegations have not been independently confirmed.

What Comes Next

With the JAAC now proscribed under anti-terrorism law and its leadership in custody, the movement faces a critical juncture. Human rights organisations are reportedly calling for an independent inquiry into the casualties. The unrest in PoK is likely to draw further international scrutiny, particularly given the territory's contested status and its residents' documented grievances over resource exploitation and political exclusion.