For the past month, workers and shopkeepers have been on strike. Tens of thousands of people took part in a long march that converged on the city of Rawalakot, where a sit-in involving tens of thousands of people has been underway for over a week.
The masses are fighting peacefully for collective rights, lower prices on basic necessities and for democratic reforms. But they are facing fierce repression. The Awami Action Committee of Kashmir , a broad coalition leading the movement, has been falsely designated as a terrorist organization, and some of its members have been murdered by the state. Armed and paramilitary forces have fired live ammunition at peaceful demonstrations, killing dozens upon dozens of men, women and children. The state has also blocked the entry of basic necessities into the region to starve the movement into submission.
The Pakistani state is trying to cover up these crimes. We therefore call on all our supporters, and all those who defend the cause of freedom and the emancipation of the poor and the oppressed, to spread the word, denounce this repression, and support the movement.
We will not look the other way.
The state is now preparing to crush the movement by slaughtering those participating in the sit-in. The movement must continue its advance if it wants to prevent a bloodbath. Members of the RCI in Pakistan, active in the AAC, are calling on the leadership of the Awami Action Committee to take control of the city of Rawalakot and declare itself the sole legitimate government. We support this call. Such a government, based on a socialist program of improvement of the living conditions of the masses and of expropriation of the corrupt elites, would immediately find massive support throughout the region. It would be a source of inspiration for workers and the poor across the region and around the world.
This is why we declare our complete solidarity with the movement of the masses of Kashmir.
Down with the repression by the Pakistani state!
All power to the masses and their Awami Action Committee!
Workers of the world, unite!
