Watch | ‘Stop the bloodshed’: Kashmiris protest outside Pakistan consulate in UK over POJK crackdown

Members of the Kashmiri diaspora have staged a protest outside the Pakistani consulate in Bradford, England, against human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). The protest was organised at the call of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

The protesters carried banners reading 'Stop the bloodshed' and 'We stand united' to express solidarity with the people of POJK.

POJK is currently in the grip of an intense crackdown by Pakistan's federal government over a JAAC-led movement demanding greater autonomy.

Earlier this week, Pakistani paramilitary personnel gunned down nine protesters during an attack on demonstrators in Rawalakot and Sudhanoti.

During weeks-long protests in POJK, dozens have been killed and hundreds injured or detained as the authorities have responded with a crackdown rather than dialogue. The authorities have proscribed the JAAC under anti-terrorism laws.

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While the ongoing movement began as a JAAC-led campaign demanding the abolition of 12 seats in POJK's legislative assembly reserved for refugees from J&K who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947, it has evolved beyond the demand for greater autonomy into the largest movement against Pakistani rule in years. The protests have been marked by defiance of Islamabad's control over the region and accusations that the Pakistan Army has plunged the region into terrorism.

At the Bradford protest, demonstrators urged the international community to take note of what they described as state repression in POJK. They accused Pakistani forces of carrying out killings, enforced disappearances, raids on homes, and violence against civilians, including women and children, in the region.

The demonstrators also called for a boycott of travel and tourism to Pakistan, urging people to avoid flying with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

Pakistan invaded the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, and India intervened militarily in defence of the state after its ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, acceded to India. By the time hostilities ended following intervention by the United Nations (UN), Pakistan had occupied nearly one-third of J&K's territory, which it continues to hold illegally.

While India refers to the territory under Pakistani occupation as POJK and considers it an inalienable part of the Union Territory of J&K, Pakistan has administratively divided the region into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). Pakistan also controlled the Shaksgam Valley, part of the larger Kashmir region, before transferring it to China under the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement. India rejects the transfer and does not recognise China's control of the territory.