India hits out at Pak over killing of PoK protesters

India on Friday denounced a crackdown by Pakistani authorities on protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that has claimed at least 10 lives and injured scores of people, and said the neighbouring country must be held accountable for “horrific human rights violations”.

- Rezaul H Laskar

Supporters of Joint Awami Action Committee, an alliance of civil rights groups, attend the funeral of men killed during a protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, on October 2.

(REUTERS)

PoK witnessed widespread protests and violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces late last month after the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which represents civil society groups and traders, demanded an end to “elite privileges” for government offi-cialsand ministers and the scrapping of 2 assembly seats reserved for refugees from J&K.