Brussels, Oct 6 (IANS) A year after Islamabad signed a deal with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to quell prolonged protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), black flags raised by the group on October 4 have exposed fresh cracks in the agreement and put Pakistan’s promises under renewed scrutiny, a report has stated.
It noted that the October 4, 2025 pact was meant to address long-standing grievances over electricity costs, healthcare, education, infrastructure, political representation, government privileges and institutional reforms in the occupied territory.
Writing for Europa Wire, Greek lawyer, writer and journalist Dimitra Staikou drew a stark contrast between last year’s agreement and this year’s protests, noting that the Joint Awami Action Committee ( JAAC) has marked October 4 as a “Black Day”
“Between those two images lies a question that no new promise can evade: what is a state’s signature worth when, a year later, those to whom the promise was made are still demanding that it be honoured?” she questioned.
Staikou, citing 45-year-old construction worker Zaheer Iqbal, said the crisis in PoK was being felt not through political statements but through every litre of fuel and every minute lost in reaching medical care.
In mid-June, Iqbal’s elder brother collapsed with severe chest pains in the mountain village of Keri Kot, but no ambulance was available.
Iqbal, his sons and other relatives carried him on an improvised bed to the nearest road, while neighbours siphoned petrol from their motorcycles to take him to the government hospital in Hajira.
Although doctors managed to stabilise him, he still needed to be taken to Islamabad, around 140 km away, requiring another vehicle and more fuel, she mentioned.
“That is the human reality behind demands that can sound technocratic on paper: affordable electricity and essential goods, functioning public healthcare and education, infrastructure, limits on the privileges of the political elite and more meaningful representation,” Staikou noted.
According to the report, the October 2025 agreement was meant to translate assurances into measurable action.
It included funding for health cards, MRI and CT scanners, Rs 10 billion for upgrading the electricity system, new education boards and institutional reforms. It also proposed capping the cabinet at 20 ministers and setting up a committee to examine one of the most contentious issues — the 12 reserved seats in the so-called Legislative Assembly of PoK.
However, the report said, the ground reality presented a different picture, with JAAC demanding written and verifiable proof that the commitments had actually been implemented instead of fresh political assurances.
By September 28, almost a year after the agreement, the group was still pressing for implementation. It subsequently observed the anniversary of the pact as a “Black Day” with black flags and protest programmes in PoK, the report mentioned.
–IANS
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