'Will Fight Till Last Breath': PoK Activists Call For Global Protest On July 5 Amid Crackdown

Last Updated:July 03, 2026, 10:14 IST

JAAC leader Khawaja Mehran on Thursday accused Pakistani authorities of attempting to suppress a peaceful public movement through arrests and intimidation.

The protest movement in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has intensified, with Kashmiri activists calling for worldwide demonstrations on July 5 to draw international attention to “escalating crackdown" by Pakistani security forces. The appeal comes as security operations by Pakistan Rangers and police enter their 31st consecutive day in several parts of the region, with activists alleging widespread detentions, enforced disappearances and legal action against protesters.

One of the latest flashpoints is the reported arrest and alleged enforced disappearance of Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a member of the Awami Action Committee (AAC). Protest leaders say Mir’s disappearance has fuelled anger across the region, prompting fresh demonstrations and demands for his immediate release.

Late on Thursday, hundreds gathered at a protest sit-in in Rawalakot, where Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) leader and advocate Khawaja Mehran delivered a fiery address, accusing Pakistani authorities of attempting to suppress a peaceful public movement through arrests and intimidation.

Mehran alleged that Pakistani authorities had registered First Information Reports (FIRs) not only against protest organisers but also against Kashmiri women who had participated in demonstrations. Calling the move an attack on civil liberties, he said targeting women reflected the authorities’ inability to address the movement politically.

“We will fight till our last breath," Mehran declared before the gathering, insisting that the movement would remain peaceful despite what he described as mounting repression. “We will fight unarmed," he added, saying activists would continue their campaign through democratic and non-violent means even as more cases were filed against protesters.

In his speech, Mehran also accused unnamed “enemies" of attempting to divide the people of Kashmir and urged residents to remain united despite the ongoing security operations.

According to protest organisers, the prolonged crackdown has disrupted daily life across several areas, with demonstrations, road restrictions and security deployments affecting normal movement. Activists also claim that shortages of essential food supplies and medicines are worsening in strike-hit regions, although these claims could not be independently verified.

The movement’s organisers have now expanded their campaign beyond the region, urging Kashmiris living abroad and human rights supporters to stage coordinated protests on July 5 outside Pakistani diplomatic missions and in major cities worldwide. They say the demonstrations are intended to highlight alleged human rights violations, demand the release of detainees and press the international community to intervene over the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Despite the continuing arrests and security action, protest leaders insist the movement will continue, arguing that public pressure remains their primary means of challenging what they describe as an increasingly restrictive environment in the region.

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Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

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