Internet blackouts lasting four months. Protesters facing brute military force in Rawalakot and Gilgit-Baltistan. A state apparatus that treats dissent like a criminal enterprise. This isn't dystopian fiction. It's the reality of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) that Islamabad works overtime to hide behind grand speeches at global summits.
Socio-political and human rights activist Tasleema Akhter recently tore into Pakistan's hypocritical posturing after attending the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Her message cuts straight through the noise. When Pakistani leadership stands at international forums preaching about rights while crushing their own citizens under military boots, nobody should be buying the script.
Exposing the Terror Industry from Within
You can't lecture the world on peace when your own prime minister practically admits to running a global export hub for extremism. During the United Nations General Assembly, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that unchecked terrorists would spread from London to America.
Akhter pointed out the obvious flaw in that logic. If a nation's leader has to warn global superpowers about the terror machinery operating out of his own backyard, he's admitting his government sponsors instability.
Pakistan loves dragging the Kashmir issue into every international conversation. Yet, they stay dead silent on the bloodshed they inflict on the very territories they illegally occupy. You cannot claim to champion a region's freedom while shutting down local media outlets, locking up journalists, and turning peaceful demonstrations into active war zones.
The Reality of PoJK vs. Jammu and Kashmir
Let's look at the actual ground conditions, because local insight beats state propaganda every single day.
If you travel through Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian side, you see working infrastructure, thriving healthcare systems, educational institutions, and normal daily life. People have real avenues to air grievances, and the administration actually listens.
Cross over the line of control into PoJK, and you find a completely different story. The civilian administration exists only on paper. The Pakistani military calls every single shot. People there don't even have basic democratic agency. When they try to elect their own representatives, the machinery of the state steps in to rig the outcome and silence dissent.
Here is what is actually happening in those neglected regions:
- Internet services get cut for months at a time to block citizens from documenting military crackdowns.
- Local activists disappear or end up jailed for demanding basic food, clothing, and shelter.
- Journalists face constant harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests for reporting the truth.
- Protests in Rawalakot and Gilgit-Baltistan are met with gunfire from the Pakistan Army and Rangers.
Challenging the Global Silence
The international community needs to stop giving Islamabad a free pass. For decades, the narrative has been distorted by a government that uses cross-border violence to distract its starving populace from domestic failures.
Akhter's direct callouts at the UNHRC put the spotlight back where it belongs. The people living in PoJK deserve the exact same fundamental human rights, economic opportunities, and safety that citizens enjoy elsewhere. They aren't asking for geopolitical chess pieces; they're asking for clean water, freedom of expression, and the right to live without fear of the army kicking down their doors.
Stop listening to the sanitized press releases coming out of Islamabad. Look at the data, listen to local activists who risk their lives to speak out, and demand accountability for the forgotten victims of PoJK. Check credible human rights reports from Geneva sessions, track local journalist safety metrics in Gilgit-Baltistan, and call out diplomatic hypocrisy wherever it hides.
