'We only asked for our rights': Inside Pakistan-administered Kashmir protests

The blood on the sheet had not yet dried when another casualty arrived.

Inside a makeshift clinic in Rawalakot, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK), doctors work with whatever they have, treating a steady stream of injured protesters while fearing there may be little they can do for the most critically wounded.

As violence continues to claim lives across the region, those inside the clinic say they are witnessing the human cost of a protest movement that has spiralled into deadly clashes with security forces, the BBC reported.

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 - says the clinic has become a frontline medical post for protesters who are too afraid to seek treatment elsewhere.

"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."

One injured protester struggles to steady his breathing as he describes why he joined the demonstrations.

"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?"

The protests, organisers say, are rooted in long-standing grievances over the cost of living and access to essential services.

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."

For Salman, the demonstrations ended with the loss of his younger 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, a former member of the armed forces, also 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."

The government for PAK has said that it rejects the allegations the security forces fired indiscriminately upon peaceful protesters, saying that law enforcement acted against individuals who were involved in attacks on law enforcement personnel, threatened public safety or obstructed lawful authority.

Away from the protests, daily life in Rawalakot has also been disrupted, with shortages and roadblocks adding to the uncertainty across the city.

The BBC witnessed food shortages, with many protesters sharing what they had with one another. Most shops were shuttered. Some told the BBC of efforts to smuggle in bags of rice on the backs of motorbikes.

Some roads into the city have been blocked by felled trees; the authorities say this was done by the JAAC. Other entry points on the main road now have security checkpoints. PAK's government said that it was false to suggest that they were preventing food or medical supplies from entering Rawalakot, saying instead that they were facilitating its entry.

The authorities have repeatedly said that the JAAC are a violent group and have shared drone shots of what they say are JAAC members carrying guns on rooftops.

At news conferences, police officials have displayed guns they say they have taken from the group, telling local media of the injuries and deaths of security officials. They said that under interrogation one man said he had been promised a reward of 10 million rupees (around £26,700) for every paramilitary officer killed.

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