'Crisis ends but underlying yearning for freedom persists'

For five days from September 29 to October 3, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) witnessed unprecedented developments.

- AJAY KAUL

It was like a volcano erupting and throwing out lava accumulated over the last 78 years.

Millions of people, across towns and villages of PoK, took to the streets to express their frustration against the subjugation suffered under the colonial rule of Pakistan.

There was a mass outburst for the rights which have been denied to the original inhabitants of occupiedKashmir by Pakistan ever since it annexed the region militarily in October 1947 before the ruler of the erstwhile princely State could sign a Treaty of Accession with India.

Called the 'Movement for Rights, it was like an uprising to challenge Pakistan's iron-fist control and administration in these territories.

There were massive protests and demonstrations, along with a complete shutdown of businesses and public transport, in all parts of PoK, beginning September 29 in response to a call given by Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC).

The JAAC wanted immediate fulfilment of its 38-point Charter of Demands, which the Government of Pakistan had been ignoring for over a year.

These demands ranged from correction of Constitutional wrongs to the fulfilment of basic and fundamental needs like clean drinking water, roads and education in PoK, which has been kept backward by the colonial rulers based in Islamabad.

As usual, the Pakistani State initially responded with brutality and highhandedness to the voicing of demands by the dejected people of PoK who got mobilised under the banner of JAAC.