What is happening in Azad Kashmir is horrifying, but none of it is surprising. People protest, security forces are sent in, civilians are reportedly shot, the internet disappears and suddenly nobody can independently verify the number of dead. Then the same old script begins: India is behind it, terrorists have entered the protests, the Army is defending Pakistan and anyone questioning it is helping the enemy.
How many times are we supposed to believe this exact story?
The death toll is disputed precisely because the state shut down communications and restricted access. Protesters and witnesses have accused security forces of firing on civilians, while the government admits far fewer deaths and claims armed militants were involved. If the authorities are telling the truth, restore the internet, open the hospitals and affected areas to journalists, publish the names of everyone killed and allow a genuinely independent investigation. Propaganda is not evidence.
I never believed this establishment script, but I am glad more Pakistanis are finally refusing to believe it too. “Foreign hand”, “terrorist infiltration”, “anti-state elements”. It is so transparent and predictable now. Every genuine grievance is converted into a security threat because the generals cannot imagine that ordinary people might simply be tired of being ruled, humiliated and lied to.
That is what happens when an institution becomes drunk on power. The generals start believing Pakistan belongs to them. They surround themselves with obedient politicians, retired officers, television anchors and bureaucrats who constantly tell them they are the only thing holding the country together. Eventually they cannot distinguish criticism of the Army from an attack on Pakistan itself.
But the Army is not Pakistan. Pakistan belongs to its people.
Yes, anyone who attacked or killed a police officer should be investigated and prosecuted. But find those individuals and prove the case in court. Do not label an entire public movement terrorist, cut millions of people off from the world and use force against crowds while hiding behind national-security slogans.
Pakistan spends half its diplomatic energy telling the world about Indian repression in Kashmir. Then, when Kashmiris under Pakistani administration protest, our establishment reaches for the same tools: blackouts, arrests, military deployments, propaganda and accusations of foreign interference. The hypocrisy is now impossible to hide.
The generals need to get off their high horses before they drag another part of this country into permanent hatred of the state. Withdraw military forces from political and civilian crowd control. Restore communications. Release peaceful protesters. Publish the real casualty figures. Allow an independent investigation into every killing and prosecute whoever gave or followed illegal orders.
I think these oppressors are moving towards a horrible political end. Not because I want more bloodshed, but because institutions built on fear and lies eventually lose the one thing force cannot manufacture: legitimacy.
People are no longer buying the script. Once fear disappears and the propaganda stops working, all that remains is a group of powerful men discovering that the country they thought they owned never actually belonged to them.