End State Repression! Release All Political Prisoners! Lift the Blockade on Kashmir!
Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM), 28. July 2026
As participants in the peaceful Long March towards Muzaffarabad, called by the Joint Awami Action Committee, entered Rawalakot, they came under indiscriminate fire from paramilitary and security forces. According to reports received so far, between 21 protesters have been killed and many more wounded. Security forces continue to fire on peaceful demonstrators, raising fears that the death toll will increase further.
For the past 57 days, the people of Kashmir have been engaged in peaceful protests, sit-ins and demonstrations. Throughout this period, repeated state attacks on protesters have claimed the lives of more than 70 people till now, while hundreds have been injured and large numbers arrested. At the same time, Kashmir remains under blockade, causing severe shortages of food, medicines and other essential supplies and placing the lives of countless people in danger.
Time and again, the Pakistani state has used the pretence of negotiations merely to buy time before unleashing further repression. The elections starting on 27th of July are nothing more than a political charade. Rather than reflecting the democratic will of the people, they are intended to divide the mass movement and preserve the existing oppressive order. This is why the Joint Awami Action Committee had already called for an election boycott—a call that has received broad support among the people of Kashmir.
We call upon workers, trade unions, students, women’s organisations and human rights organisations throughout Pakistan and across the world to condemn this brutal massacre. The struggle of the people of Kashmir is a struggle against occupation, repression and exploitation.
We demand that the Pakistani state:
- Immediately cease all firing on peaceful protesters and end all forms of state repression.
- Halt the ongoing massacre and operations against the people of Kashmir.
- Lift the ban on the Joint Awami Action Committee.
- Immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, detained protesters and activists of the Joint Awami Action Committee.
- Lift the blockade of Kashmir without delay and guarantee the unrestricted delivery of food, medicines and all other essential supplies.
- Restore all democratic rights, including the freedoms of assembly, protest, organisation and expression.
- Hold accountable all those responsible for the killings, shootings, arbitrary arrests and other acts of state repression.
We call upon the working class, trade unions, peasant organisations, student organisations, women’s movements and all democratic forces in Pakistan, Kashmir and internationally to stand in active solidarity with the people of Kashmir by organising demonstrations, solidarity actions, public meetings, workplace resolutions and other coordinated campaigns against this massacre.
We demand an independent, transparent and public investigation into the ongoing massacre, state repression, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and all violations of democratic and human rights in Kashmir. Such an investigation must not be entrusted to the Pakistani state or its institutions. Instead, it should be conducted by an independent workers’ Commission of Inquiry, composed of representatives of trade unions, workers’ organisations and popular movements from Kashmir, Pakistan and around the world, ensuring that the truth cannot be concealed and those responsible cannot escape justice.
We further call upon the international trade union movement, workers’ organisations, human rights organisations and all progressive and revolutionary forces to express their active solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people, unequivocally condemn the brutal repression and massacre carried out by the state, and mobilise international pressure to bring this violence to an immediate end.
The Revolutionary Socialist Movement unequivocally condemns this state massacre and calls upon the workers, youth and oppressed people of Pakistan and Kashmir to organise a united struggle against state repression.
