Deadly Protests Erupt in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir Over Basic Rights

Dr Anwar's makeshift clinic is not far from the main protest site in the city of Rawalakot in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK). A spare bedroom acts as a medical supply cupboard, outside is a bed under a red stretched tarpaulin.

Lying across the bed is Shafqat Hussain, shot in the chest. The sheet he lies on is already stained with the blood of previously injured. He is dying.

In the last two months, dozens of people have been killed across the region in clashes between security officials and protesters from the group Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

This region - home to about 4.5 million people - currently has elections taking place.

The BBC is the first media organisation to gain access to Rawalakot and speak to those at the heart of the protests.

Dr Anwar – whose name, like most of those in this report, has been changed to protect contributors – tells our team: "We have enough supplies to provide first aid. We can stop bleeding, clean and dress wounds, and remove superficial bullets. But patients with serious injuries to the chest, abdomen, head, or other vital organs need advanced hospitals."

Anwar adds: "Even major hospitals would struggle if many such patients arrived at the same time."

Since 27 July, the clinic has treated around 50 to 60 critically injured patients, the doctor says, adding that he personally treated 15 to 20 with gunshot wounds.

Protesters are scared to go to the main hospital because they fear they will be arrested or shot. The authorities have said that claim is inaccurate.

"Most of those who have been killed or seriously injured are young people between about 15-16 years old and 32-35 years old. I have seen very few patients over the age of 40."

At Hussain's bedside is his friend Ali. He wipes his tears away with his shawl.

"We only asked for affordable flour, electricity and our basic rights," he says, trying to steady his breath through his sobs. "Instead, our brothers are being killed. What was our crime? Why are live bullets being fired at us?"

Protesters from the JAAC say the demonstrations are about their rights, with concerns including electricity prices, education and health care. An agreement signed with the Pakistan and PAK governments back in October was meant to help. The JAAC says it's not been implemented.

The local government disagrees. They say the group is armed and that this is about disrupting the ongoing polls. And they are not willing to let the protesters march to the regional capital, Muzaffarabad.

The JAAC was banned in June; they have been labelled foreign-funded terrorists. They reject this characterisation, saying they are peaceful and - though funded from the PAK community abroad - not sponsored by India.

Rather than initiating violence, they say they are the victims and that Pakistan's security forces have been firing on them.

With the internet cut and roads blocked or guarded, getting information has been difficult.

Once in the city, the BBC spoke to multiple families who say they lost loved ones, shot at the protests.

Asma said she was at the protest herself when she heard her only son had been shot.

"We were only asking for our rights. We are not terrorists," she said. "No mother could ask for a better son."

"He knew there were risks, but he believed standing up for justice was important. He used to say that dying for a just cause was an honour."

Salman lost his brother.

"He was the youngest in the family and was loved by everyone. It is a great loss for us," he said.

"At the same time I feel proud that he gave his life while standing up for the rights of the people. He was not fighting or attacking anyone."

Ayub was formerly in the armed forces and lost his son. He did not blame the Pakistan government or military, but instead pointed to the government in PAK, saying they were the ones who called in the paramilitary forces.

"I am a retired soldier. I lived through the martial law periods of General Zia-ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf," he said. "But I have never seen anything like what is happening now. In my opinion, it is extreme injustice."

"My son had done nothing wrong. None of the protesters had done anything wrong.

This was denied by Umar Nazir, a member of the JAAC's core committee and currently in Rawalakot. But security officials have lost their lives.

"Look, perhaps such deaths did occur - I will not comment on that," he said.

"However, I believe that certain elements, who are under their control, were infiltrated into our ranks. Such people were certainly present among us."

"I believe they may have carried out such actions themselves in order to justify their own narrative. I am not making a definitive claim, but there is no evidence whatsoever that any such violence came from our side."

He provided no evidence to support this claim of an alleged infiltration and the authorities have said that the JAAC have engaged in a campaign of disinformation against them, particularly on social media.

At the JAAC protests we attended, the BBC saw no sign of weaponry or shooting, although overnight repeated gunshots were heard. It was unclear who was shooting or at what.

The atmosphere was tense and uncertain; no-one knows when the situation could escalate.

Nazir says that the group are willing to talk, but for now, more protests are planned.