International bodies turn a blind eye too often. People living under direct authoritarian shadow rarely get a microphone. Right after attending the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, human rights defender Javed Beigh pulled no punches. He called out the heavy-handed censorship, enforced disappearances, and systemic abuses plaguing Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).
If you look past the standard geopolitical noise, a grim picture emerges. Local activists, independent journalists, and political workers face intense surveillance, arbitrary detentions, and constant intimidation. Families spend years searching for missing relatives without a single official answer. Beigh's direct appeal to the UNHRC isn't just about paperwork or diplomatic theatre. It's a demand for independent fact-finding missions to go on the ground and document the reality.
The Silence Surrounding the Rawalakot Crackdown
Accountability starts with acknowledging suppressed history. Beigh specifically highlighted the Rawalakot incident, where he stated that over a hundred innocent Kashmiris lost their lives during state crackdowns. Even worse, authorities reportedly refused to return the victims' bodies to their grieving families. Denying basic funeral rites violates standard international humanitarian norms. Yet, global headlines frequently gloss over these events.
Enforced disappearances have turned into a routine mechanism of control across PoJK and PoGB. When basic personal security vanishes, people live in perpetual fear. Speaking out against military interference or calling for self-determination invites swift retribution. The state apparatus relies on absolute silence.
Questioning External Interference and Political Agency
The political structure in these territories remains heavily compromised. Civilian leadership serves mostly as a facade while the military establishment pulls the strings. Local populations are denied genuine self-governance. Beigh emphasized that residents deserve the absolute right to shape their own future without outside interference from Islamabad.
Real empowerment requires freedom of expression, active political participation, and open access to information. Right now, internet blackouts and severe media censorship ensure that news from the region rarely reaches the outside world.
The Broader Human Rights Crisis
Pakistan's domestic human rights record extends far beyond disputed territories. Religious and ethnic minorities face systemic marginalization. Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis, Shias, Ismailis, Balochs, and Pashtuns routinely encounter state-sponsored discrimination or targeted violence. When a state suppresses its own diverse populace, remote regions like PoGB become even more vulnerable to exploitation and neglect.
Contrasting this reality with the infrastructure, educational expansion, digital connectivity, and economic development seen in India's Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh reveals a stark disparity. Tourism, science, IT, and cultural platforms thrive on the Indian side, while residents across the Line of Control struggle under severe economic stagnation and civil restrictions.
What Needs to Happen Next
Raising awareness requires collective action from international civil society and global forums. Diplomatic channels must apply persistent pressure.
- Urge national foreign ministries to take up the humanitarian crisis in PoJK and PoGB during bilateral and multilateral negotiations.
- Push international human rights organizations to demand unhindered access for independent fact-finding missions.
- Amplify local grassroots voices currently silenced by digital blackouts and state media controls.
Ignoring these violations normalizes oppression. It's time to break the silence.
