At a hurriedly called press conference in Nakyal on May 6 in Pakistani Occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK), Awami Workers Party leader Nissar Shah advocate criticized the local Assistant Commissioner, Omar Farooq, for launching what Shah called a vindictive FIR against Shamsher Ali Sher advocate of Samaj Badlo Tehreeks (Change Society Movement) and a candidate in upcoming general elections. This is not the first time that social justice activists in PoJK are faced victimization and it will most definitely not be the last. In the past, student activists of the Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF) have faced arrests and torture at the hands of the occupation forces.
Shamsher Ali Sher hails from a respected family of professionals in Nakyal in the Kotli district. He is campaigning for the construction of safety walls at blind corners along the Nakyal- Kotli road which is the main cause of frequent road accidents. On December 31, 2020, a Nakyal-bound van carrying a family who was traveling back from Gujranwala in Punjab lost control and fell hundreds of feet down into a ravine instantly killing three women and a man.1
In another accident that took place on April 11, 2021, five members of the same family lost their lives. They were traveling from Nakyal to Kotli city. “This loss of lives could have been averted pro- vided there was a safety wall build at the dangerous parts and blind corners of the Nakyal-Kotli Road”, says Sher. And now he himself fears for his life and rightly so. In the past, Arif Shahid social activist from PoJK paid with his life for raising his voice against social injustice. He was allegedly killed by an ISI hitman outside his house in Rawalpindi on May 14, 2013. Arif Shahid campaigned against the increased bar on political parties to participate in general elections unless they signed a document pledging allegiance to Pakistan.2 Under construction hydropower projects to be brought to an instant halt and deals made between the government of Azad Kashmir and Chinese construction companies be made public. In February 2021, less than two months after he had written to the Army Chief, Sulehria died of a mysterious heart at- tack. No autopsy was carried out. In 2011, a doctor and a human rights activist from PoJK were gunned down allegedly by the Pakistani secret service the ISI.3 Most recently Afzal Sulehria, a high-profile political and human rights activist and leader of the Kashmir National Party, allegedly became yet another victim of the ISI. Sulehria was a towering figure in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of PoJK. He vigorously campaigned against the diversion of Rivers Kishan Ganga (Neelum) and River Jhelum, and in December 2020 had written a letter to the Pakistan army chief demanding all
- https://www.dawn. com/news/15255333
- Adams, Brad. “Paki- stan: ‘Free Kashmir’ Far From Free”. Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
Choudhry, Shabbir. “PAKISTAN: Another Azad Kashmiri becomes the victim of ISI butchery”. Asian Human Rights Commission. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
Under construction hydropower projects are to be brought to an instant halt and deals made between the government of Azad Kashmir and Chinese construction companies be made public. In February 2021, less than two months after he had written to the Army Chief, Sulehria died of a mysterious heart at- tack. No autopsy was carried out. It is not uncommon for human rights and political activists such as Shamsher Ali Sher advocate to face persecution after being involved in campaigns that
attempt to address issues
regarding public interest in PoJK. Those who have raised their voice against the colonial rule of Paki- stan, since October 1947, when Pakistan attacked the state of Jammu and Kash- mir and forcefully annexed western parts of Jammu province as well as Gil- git Agency, unfortunately, share the same fate. Human Rights Watch report sums up the ordeal we face in PoJK most convincingly as follows: “the Pakistani government in Islamabad, (read military establishment), the Pakistani army and the Pakistani intelligence services (Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI) control all aspects of political life in Azad Kashmir (PoJK)… Azad Kashmir is a land of strict curbs on political pluralism, freedom of expression, and freedom of association; a muzzled press; banned books; arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture at the hands of the Pakistani military and the police. Singled out are Kashmiri nationalists who do not support the idea of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan.”
