PoJK: Student Hunger Strike Erupts in Muzaffarabad Demanding Release of Rawalakot Detainees
A major protest has broken out in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), where University of Kashmir students have launched a hunger strike camp outside the Muzaffarabad Central Press Club. The demonstrators are demanding the immediate release of students arrested in Rawalakot.
Protesters accused authorities of slapping “baseless and fabricated” charges on the students, noting that even minors as young as 13 and 14 had been detained. They also claimed that students living outside Rawalakot—including in Islamabad—had been falsely named in FIRs. “Their education is being wasted because of false accusations,” one protest leader said.
The students denounced the violent crackdown on those already staging a 50-hour hunger strike in Rawalakot, alleging that police baton-charged peaceful demonstrators, injuring several before detaining them. “They were demanding their rights peacefully but were mercilessly beaten and thrown onto the streets,” another activist stated.
Leaders warned that unless the detained students are freed, they will escalate the protest into a wider student-led movement across PoJK, drawing comparisons with the recent student uprising in Bangladesh that ended Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s long rule. “History shows that student movements can change regimes. We will not allow these injustices to continue,” a protester declared.
The unrest is spreading beyond Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot to districts such as Zafarabad, Kotli, Bagh, and Pallandri. Several student organisations—including MSF, PSF, MSFN, and SLS—have joined the movement in solidarity.
The protesters also invoked Article 257 of Pakistan’s constitution, arguing that since PoJK is a disputed territory, Pakistan’s domestic laws should not apply. “If raising the slogan of Kashmir is a crime, then we are all guilty,” they warned.
The hunger strike camp in Muzaffarabad, according to protest leaders, will continue until the detained students are released.
