Kashmiri Activist Tasleema Akhtar Raises PoK Crackdown at UN Human Rights Council
Tasleema Akhtar told the UNHRC that Pakistani forces fired on peaceful protesters in PoK and called for independent inquiries into each killing.
A socio-political activist from Baramulla, Tasleema Akhtar, has taken the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the international stage, addressing the 63rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Associated with the Association of Terror Victims in Kashmir (ATVK), she accused Pakistani security forces of firing on civilians who were peacefully demanding basic rights in the region.
Speaking at the council, Akhtar called for an independent investigation into each killing, with free and fair access to information on all cases. She said PoK had witnessed sustained peaceful protests led by the Joint Awami Action Committee and civil society groups over governance and economic issues, which were met with a harsh response from authorities.
According to her remarks, the Pakistan government arrested hundreds of activists, detained key leaders, shut down the internet, and resorted to violent clashes that claimed dozens of lives. She described the situation as exposing political instability and public discontent in PoK, and said there was no civic space in the region.
Akhtar urged the UNHRC to intervene, demanding that large-scale reprisals and the killing of innocent civilians by Pakistani forces be stopped at once. She also called for the restoration of civic space and communications.
In an interview from Geneva, she said Pakistan's biggest falsehood was referring to PoK as "Azad Kashmir", arguing that people of an independent nation are not fired upon for asking for their fundamental rights. She said Pakistan could never genuinely act in the interest of Kashmiris, alleging that it first tried to turn Jammu and Kashmir into a graveyard by pushing terrorists and had now turned PoK into one by killing unarmed protesters.
Akhtar further claimed that no one was present at the UN to represent the people of PoK directly, alleging that Pakistan had instead brought London-based individuals to speak on the region's behalf and present what she called a fabricated narrative.