THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
For decades, Pakistan’s military and its intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have relied on a cynical, dual-track survival strategy. Globally, they present themselves as counter-terrorism partners to the West. Domestically, they weaponize the very same banned extremist groups they claim to fight, deploying them to infiltrate and dismantle peaceful civil movements.
This dark playbook is unfolding in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), where the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) is leading a massive, peaceful struggle for basic economic and political rights. Even more striking than the ISI’s brutality, however, is the deafening silence from Washington, which has chosen to look the other way while embracing Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The ISI’s Playbook — Infiltrate, Arm, and Destroy
The JAAC’s movement is entirely civilian. People are marching for fair electricity rates, food subsidies, and an end to the military’s political manipulation. Because the state cannot logically or morally justify using lethal force against peaceful citizens demanding bread, the ISI employs a calculated, three-step strategy to crush them:
(1) Pushed Weapons and Manufactured Violence: JAAC leaders have openly accused the Pakistan Army of attempting to force weapons into the hands of local Kashmiris. By trying to convert a non-violent civil movement into an armed rebellion, the military seeks to justify a massive, bloody crackdown.
(2) The Deployment of Banned Proxies: While the state cracks down on peaceful protesters, banned terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operate with official protection. The ISI uses these radical proxies to infiltrate JAAC rallies, stir sectarian tension, and deliberately provoke clashes.
(3) The Terrorist Label: Once the state’s own infiltrators incite violence, the government utilizes the Anti-Terrorism Act to ban the JAAC and brand ordinary citizens as “terrorists”. This flips the narrative, allowing the state to cut internet access, deploy the paramilitary Rangers, and open fire on unarmed crowds under the guise of “national security”.
The US Silence and the “Favorite Field Marshal”
This blatant abuse of anti-terror laws and human rights is met with complete silence from the United States. The reason for this silence is Washington’s deep strategic dependency on Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The US administration has fully embraced Munir as its “primary interlocutor” in South Asia. Under his command, the military has secured massive US defense upgrades, including sustainment for AMRAAM missiles and a $686 million F-16 modernization package and has even partnered with US firms to export critical minerals.
In exchange for Munir’s cooperation on geopolitics and resource access, the US has chosen to ignore the military’s systematic dismantling of democratic checks and civil rights inside Pakistan and PoK.
The Cost of Hypocrisy
The situation in PoK exposes a devastating double hypocrisy. Pakistan denies the existence of the very terror groups it actively protects and unleashes on its own peaceful citizens. Meanwhile, the United States, which loudly champions global human rights and democracy, remains completely silent as its “favorite Field Marshal” uses state sponsored terror tactics to strangle a peaceful Kashmiri civil rights movement.
For the people of PoK, the message is clear: in the game of global geopolitics, their lives and liberties are easily traded away for Washington’s strategic convenience.
References
1.https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pakistans-decades-long-exploitation-behind-pojk-protests-mea/article71222262.ece?hl=en
2.https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pakistans-decades-long-exploitation-behind-pojk-protests-mea/article71222262.ece?hl=en
4.https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pok-protests-jaac-38-point-charter-electricity-prices-rights-2948373-2026-07-15?hl=en
