Days of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police have gripped Pakistan’s Kashmir on the border with India, with nine confirmed killed among scant news to emerge after an internet blackout.
Thousands first took to the streets of Muzaffarabad on Monday, demanding an end to lucrative benefits for the political class, such as free electricity and expensive cars.
Internet and mobile phone services have been blocked in the towering mountain valley, and local media were warned earlier by authorities against covering the daily demonstrations.
AFP reporters on Wednesday saw streets that were stained with blood and littered with spent bullet casings, shards of glass and scattered stones, apparent evidence of the chaos.
“The politicians here behave like gangsters ruling over our heads; we want them gone and their privileges removed,” said Asad Tabbasum, a 51-year-old protester.
“They should stand with us.”
Security forces and police have flooded the streets of Muzaffarabad in response to the protests, firing tear gas to hold back the crowds that reached up to 6,000 at their peak.
According to an official statement by the Azad Kashmir government on Wednesday, six civilians and three policemen have been killed since Monday.
More than 170 police personnel have been injured, along with 50 civilians, in the “violent demonstrations”, the government statement said.
Protest organisers say more than 100 civilians were wounded.
The military has not made a statement on the protests or responded to AFP requests for comment.
Criticism of the military is a red line in Pakistan, which was ruled for decades by the generals who analysts say are at the centre of real power in the South Asian nation.
– ‘We’re here for our rights’ –
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but has been divided between them since their independence from British rule.
The area is considered highly sensitive by the Pakistani military after years of frequent skirmishes and full-blown wars.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan fought for four days in May, their worst clash in decades.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement to the media that a “few miscreants, on the enemy’s instigation, are attempting to disrupt peace and order in Azad Kashmir”.
Naqvi did not identify “the enemy”, although it is a phrase regularly used to refer to neighbouring rival India.
“Peaceful protest is everyone’s right, but taking the law into one’s own hands will never be allowed,” he said.
The Kashmir protests have been led by civil rights organisation Awami Action Committee (AAC), formed to fight for local rights in the mostly rural region, echoing similar movements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
On Wednesday, markets and schools were closed as thousands of chanting protesters walked past buildings scorched by fire or with broken windows.
Protest leader Shaukat Nawaz, an AAC member, claimed that police had fired at protesters.
“The bullets being fired at us are made in Pakistan to be used against the enemy and are now being used against us,” he said.
The government did not respond to his claims.
Protesters also accused the authorities of harassing journalists and preventing coverage of their demonstrations.
“Our voice has been muted, not just that, they are reporting us as miscreants when we are here for our rights,” said 22-year-old Akash Kazmi.
The government said in its statement it was ready for dialogue and had accepted “90 percent of the demands”.
The AAC, which has asked for affordable electricity, more hospitals, and for private mobile network providers to enter the market, denied that its demands had been met.
Amnesty International on Thursday appealed for “an immediate, impartial and transparent investigation” into the clashes, including “the excessive use of force by law enforcement”.
It added that the ongoing communications blackout was causing panic among the population and fuelling misinformation.
Protests, as well as funerals, continued on Thursday.
“Sometimes they call us betrayers, sometimes Indian agents, we are neither,” Nawaz roared through a microphone.
“We will keep fighting till we get our rights.”
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© Agence France-Presse
