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Protests and Crackdown in PoK: Blockade, Arrests, and Economic Impact

Monday, June 22, 2026
5 min read
Protests and Crackdown in PoK: Blockade, Arrests, and Economic Impact

PoK still simmering. It’s been nineteen days now with these massive protests against the government. demonstrators are just refusing to stop fighting despite the crackdown from Pakistani authorities. that's what CNN-News18 is learning.

Pakistan has imposed something protesters call a total food blockade across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. internet services? gone. major roads shut down completely. life there is just grindingly disrupted. reports are flooding in about shortages of basic supplies. public anger is growing fast.

this whole situation is boiling down to the escalating clash between the authorities and the people backing the Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC . they’re really putting pressure on those leaders. but the JAAC figures just keep saying they won't back down. they vow to keep agitating. refuse to surrender in face of what they see as military aggression from Pakistan.

arrests are continuing. sources say about thirty-five more Kashmiris were detained just Saturday alone. and think about that. protest leaders claim over fourteen hundred people have either been held or just vanished since the military operation started. it’s a real vacuum there.

the authorities keep targeting those who support the JAAC . their leaders rejected any pleas to just drop the movement. they are pushing hard.

the Awami Action Committee itself has issued warnings too. if the crackdown gets worse, they say they are ready for other kinds of resistance. alternative ways to push back. that threat hangs over everything right now.

the whole region is effectively locked down. this shutdown brought large parts of PoK to a standstill. normal life stopped dead after witnessing what many called their deadliest unrest in years. twenty-four people were reported killed during those nearly two weeks of protests, according to Reuters.

it all kicked off because of some political maneuvering. the whole thing started ahead of that June 9 strike by the JAAC over the reservation of twelve seats for refugees in the July 27 elections for the regional assembly. it was a flashpoint.

thousands of supporters gathered outside Rawalakot, about a hundred kilometers south of Muzaffarabad. and what happened next? authorities shut down main roads. internet access cut off. media access restricted across much of the area.

regional police chief Liaqat Ali Malik told Reuters about the scale of it all. four officers were killed. ninety-seven got wounded. five hundred fifteen people detained during that whole period. just brutal numbers.

then there’s the economic hit, which is hitting everyone hard. this prolonged shutdown caused terrible economic distress. shortages of essentials are rampant. laborers, traders, transport workers they're struggling just to earn a living since everything locked down. banking services? ATMs? petrol stations all messed up because of internet disruptions and official rules.

residents talking to Reuters described the conditions getting worse every day. markets stayed mostly closed. economic activity just collapsed. people also told AFP they were having real trouble getting medicine and food supplies as supply chains completely broke down due to these closures. authorities insisted they were trying to stop shortages, but it feels like a massive failure right now.

and don't forget the outside reaction. the Kashmiri diaspora is watching this unfold too. demonstrators staged protests outside the Pakistani Consulate in Glasgow, Scotland. demanding Pakistan pull back its forces from PoK. showing solidarity with everyone involved in this ongoing movement.

with protesters refusing to ease up, arrests still happening, and those restrictions firmly in place, tensions across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir just aren't easing up. it’s entering its third week now. the confrontation is far from over.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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