Youth political activist Asif Saeed Sakhi arrested without charges amid intensifying crackdown in PoK

Amid ongoing political crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the local police have arrested Asif Saeed Sakhi, Vice President of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), a prominent left-leaning political group in the region read more
Amid ongoing political crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the local police have arrested Asif Saeed Sakhi, Vice President of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), a prominent left-leaning political group in the region.
The information was shared on X by Javed Beigh, India's representative at the United Nations and a vocal advocate for the integration of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) with India's Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, respectively.
In a long post on X along with sharing Sakhi's pictures, Beigh wrote, 'This is a photo of ASIF SAEED SAKHI, a youth political activist from minority Muslim sectarian community of ISMAILI MUSLIMS behind bars in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir's (PoK's) Gilgit and Baltistan region, which is also known as Pakistan Occupied Gilgit and Baltistan (PoGB).'
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PAKISTAN CRACK DOWN IN PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) CONTINUES, even as the world ignores the plight of the people of PoK....
This is a photo of ASIF SAEED SAKHI, a youth political activist from minority Muslim sectarian community of ISMAILI MUSLIMS behind bars in Pakistan… pic.twitter.com/dDTkCd3iHA — Javed Beigh (@JavedBeigh) May 26, 2025
According to Beigh, Sakhi was arrested by police in Gulmit without any formal charges or the registration of a First Information Report (FIR), raising serious concerns about arbitrary detentions and the suppression of political dissent.
'Asif Saeed Sakhi is Vice President of PoGB's Awami Workers Party (AWP), a communist political party, a prominent political part of PoGB. He has been detained without charges by the local police of the puppet regime of Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) local Chief Minister Gulbahar Khan, which is seen as the puppet of the Punjabi Muslim ruling elite based in Islamabad & Rawalpindi,' he added.
According to Beigh, Sakhi belongs to the Wakhi speaking Ismaili Muslim community which is a minority Muslim community in Pakistan but constitutes a major religious community in PoGB.
The Wakhi community of PoGB are Tajik Farsi speaking communities who are culturally close to Wakhi speaking Ismaili communities of Gorno Badakshan in Tajikistan, Xinjiang province in China & Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, he added.
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'Before 1947, this used to be the northernmost border of British India and was part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir but after 1947, Pakistan illegally occupied this part of PoK depriving India its natural borders with Tajikistan, Afghanistan and wider Central Asia,' Beigh wrote.
The arrest comes in the wake of mounting unrest over the controversial 'Land Reforms Act,' recently passed by the local assembly, widely seen as a rubber-stamp body operating under the control of Pakistan's central government.
Critics argue the act enables land acquisition at the cost of indigenous communities and has triggered protests across the region.
Several political leaders, including Ehsan Ali Advocate of the Awami Action Committee, have also been arrested in recent weeks as part of what many describe as a coordinated crackdown by the Pakistan People's Party-led regional administration, headed by Chief Minister Gulbahar Khan. Detractors have labelled the government a 'puppet regime' acting under the directives of the Punjabi-dominated ruling elite in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
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'The arrest of Asif Saeed Sakhi has sparked a wave of condemnation and concern. The local Hunza court's decision to grant a two-day physical remand has further fueled outrage, with many in PoGB calling the move illegal and a clear act of retaliation by the local puppet regime of PoGB under the orders of the state of Pakistan. The people of PoGB say that the Hunza administration and police of PoGB appear to be pursuing a campaign of targeted harassment and retaliation against him,' wrote Beigh.
Sakhi's arrest has sparked widespread calls for his immediate release and an impartial investigation. His supporters allege that the PoGB administration and police are engaged in a campaign of targeted harassment against dissident voices.
Adding to the complexity is the assertion that Sakhi is an Indian citizen, originally from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), territory that India considers illegally occupied since 1947.
'ASIF SAEED SAKHI is an INDIAN CITIZEN from PoK. The million dollar question is, why is India not condemning Pakistani State oppression on the people of PoK, whom we Indians consider as part of our own ?' he asked.
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Beigh wondered why India was choosing to ignore the plight of the people of PoGB and PoJK and urged the Indian government to take a more active stance.
'Why is India choosing to ignore the plight of the people of POGB and POJK, who we consider as Indians living under illegal occupation of Pakistan since 1947?' he asked.

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He considered slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale as his idol and some years ago, he donned the attire and lifestyle of a Nihang Sikh, carrying traditional weapons. Although he projected himself as a good Samaritan out to clean up Punjab society, some say he's just a self-styled vigilante looking to grab attention and social media eyeballs. Over the past four years, he fashioned himself as a religious radical and built a massive social media following along the way with violent threats to supposedly protect social and Sikh values. His targets included influencers, suspected quacks and a dera head, whom he accused of moral, religious or sexual transgressions. He often recorded his encounters with them and shared them on his now-closed social media accounts. Mehron operated two Instagram accounts with 351,000 and 398,000 followers, respectively, and regularly posted videos condemning what he calls 'obscene' content. Police shut down his social media accounts last week. 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But at the same time, people like Mehron were using social media to hand out death threats and openly call for violence. Such threats, leading to taking the law into their own hands, also need to be curbed. What Mehron did is more condemnable,' he added. However, not all cases involving Mehron involved allegations of moral policing. After setting up Kaum de Rakhe in 2020, Mehron and his group shared a mobile number on social media and offered to help people 24/7. To begin with, his group claimed it was helping mediate family disputes at the request of local villagers. They claimed they stopped two brothers from dividing their house, and rescued a 13-year-old girl from her paternal uncle and aunt, who allegedly tortured her. They travelled to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where they said they rescued an old man forced to work as a bonded labourer. They also claimed to have helped a family rebuild their house following a fire. In another case, Mehron claimed to have rescued an old woman from her sons, who allegedly beat her up. He also complained to the police to take action against a young man seen in a viral video allegedly touching a girl child inappropriately in the village of Bhinder Kalan in Moga. But soon the group also turned to religious vigilantism. In August 2021, Mehron and his associates broke wall tiles with pictures of Hindu gods and Sikh gurus in a commercial building in Sector 22, Chandigarh. The tiles had been put to deter passersby from urinating against the wall. In a separate incident, Mehron and his group 'raided' a gurdwara in a town in Rajasthan, removing Sikh religious texts they claimed were being desecrated. All these activities were recorded and shared on Mehron's social media handles. As his following increased, he started seeking donations, claiming the funds would be used to build houses for the poor and assist caregivers of children with special needs. In one video, he documented a visit to poor Sikh families in Madhya Pradesh, saying he was assessing their living conditions. Mehron also shared videos of his group indulging in violence, claiming to deliver instant punishment. For instance, he and his group claimed to have 'taught a lesson' to a young man whom they alleged was blackmailing a girl into having a relationship with him. They released a video of them beating up the man. His group also claimed to have caught a person they said generated fake online IDs and indulged in inappropriate activities with women. In one post, he claimed that his men had beaten up a Ludhiana-based Shiv Sena leader for speaking against Bhindranwale. In another video, he claimed to have beaten up a resident of Uttarakhand who was faking Mehron's identity on social media. Apart from the first case of vandalism of statues in Amritsar, Mehron's violent activities and open threats were ignored by Punjab police. An emboldened Mehron then graduated from traditional weapons to flaunting automatic weapons. However, it is not known if they were licensed. In one video, he claimed he was facing cases under the Arms Act for flaunting weapons openly. In many cases, though Mehron issued threats of violence, he took no physical action and his actions seemed aimed at drawing attention. On one occasion, he claimed to have travelled to Balram Nagar in Uttarakhand to confront the organisers of a young woman's dance performance in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib on the occasion of Janmashtami. He claimed he wanted to'teach the organisers a lesson', but on his return, he said he let them off after they apologised. In another instance, in February 2022, Mehron and his men went to Delhi claiming to support the family of a 20-year-old victim who was allegedly abducted, gangraped and later paraded on the streets. After meeting the family, they wrote on the wall of the victim's house in Punjabi: 'The Sikh community is alive. It will take revenge in this case'. Mehron was booked for issuing a threat, but on social media, he projected his visit to the Delhi police station as an achievement. He never went on to do anything to the criminals as promised to the victim's family. Last year, Mehron accused Baba Baljinder Singh, head of the Thaah Charan Ghat gurdwara, of allegedly sexually exploiting women followers. He released a video showing his interrogation of the alleged victim and the baba about his alleged sexual abuse. Baljinder Singh was subsequently booked for rape and arrested. However, the victim turned against Mehron and alleged he had pressured her to falsely implicate Singh. Despite having criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for years, Mehron rushed to seek its protection, addressing his supporters jointly with SGPC officials, calling for police action against the victim as well. Earlier this year, he turned his attention to 'vaids', or self-styled medical practitioners, who sold medicines they claimed treated sexual dysfunctions. He shared pictures of their advertisements on social media. Some of these vaids later met Mehron and issued apologies, which he videographed and put on his social media accounts. Mehron also claimed he had made Amritsar-based influencer Deepika Luthra apologise for creating what he called vulgar content. Luthra told police last week that Mehron threatened her repeatedly. She was provided security and a fresh case was registered against Mehron. Luthra told police that she was called by Mehron and his men for a promotional video, and was then waylaid on a village road. She alleged that she was forced to apologise, after which she stopped posting such content. Mehron posted the video of the meeting and the apology on his social media, portraying it as a personal achievement. Last month, Mehron specially went to meet to extend support to Himanshi Narwal, the widow of a naval officer killed by terrorists in Pahalgam. 'Custodians of morality' Historians and political scientists say vigilantes like Mehron are not a new phenomenon. Dr Harjeshwar Pal Singh of the Department of History, SGGS College Sector 26, Chandigarh, says such socio-religious vigilantes have been part of society for a long time. 'Indian and Punjabi society is deeply conservative, religious and has traditionally been stronger than the state. Vigilantes like Nihangs, Shiv Sainiks, khap panchayats, society uncles, etc, have often acted as custodians of morality and society and acted against women, drugs, minorities and vulgarity,' he told ThePrint. 'Respect for the law, democratic norms and tolerance for alternative lifestyles has been slow among these groups. Many such vigilantes have been patronised by political groups. The rise of social media, religious polarisation, economic inequality and changing societal norms has only deepened social anxiety and concern about issues of vulgarity and led to the rise of vigilantes like Mehron, whose pages are followed by lakhs. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp help vigilante groups mobilise support, name and shame targets, and create parallel moral courts,' he added. Viral videos of moral policing or 'religious protection' gain approval and embolden others, he said. Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur of the department of political science, DAV College Sector 10, Chandigarh, says nudity and vulgarity has existed in Punjab through songs and dances played at weddings for decades. 'Families, including women and children attending these weddings, enjoying this music, and youth dancing to such numbers, do not have a shock value. Influencers are mouthing these songs, adding their own lewd acts to them. And what about the lakhs who follow them? The influencers are serving what is being bought. 'However, the emergence of the so-called vigilantes is new. They are working either for an unseen behind-the-curtain agent or for the glory and money earned through social media. These vigilantes should not be allowed to become keepers of the collective conscience of a healthy, inclusive, progressive society.' Adding, 'The quality of content available on social media needs to be regulated, restricting adult content. But people like Mehron should also be taken to task by the law.' (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also Read: Kanchan Kumari was killed for giving men what they want. And that's the real obscenity