‘My only son was shot standing up for justice’ – inside city gripped by deadly protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir

At Hussain’s bedside is his friend Ali. He wipes his tears away with his shawl.

“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?”

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.”

Salman lost his 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 was formerly in the armed forces and 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.”

“My son had done nothing wrong. None of the protesters had done anything wrong.