Ongoing protests led by the Joint Awami Action Committee in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir center on governance, fiscal grievances, and the 12 reserved refugee seats in the assembly, which the article notes are decided by far fewer votes than local seats yet often determine governments.

The piece argues that Field Marshal Asim Munir has responded by proscribing the committee under anti-terrorism laws rather than addressing demands, continuing a pattern of force used in other regions and relying on the seats to maintain control.

It highlights the constitutional paradox of “Azad Kashmir,” whose framework bars opposition to accession to Pakistan while the highest council is chaired by Pakistan’s prime minister, and concludes that Islamabad treats the territory as real estate rather than responding to residents’ demands.

Conditions in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir [PoJK] have never been good. Had it really been so, Islamabad wouldn’t have to take so much effort and spend a fortune on projecting an illusion of its wellbeing and prosperity. 

Readers would recall that in 2011, a US court found Kashmiri American Council [KAC] head Ghulam Nabi Fai guilty of running a “decades-long scheme” to influence the US government’s position on Kashmir. He was indicted for concealing receipt of at least $ 4 million from Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] for promoting Pakistan’s Kashmir narrative amongst US politicians. 

But this wasn’t an aberration. 

Just four years ago, Islamabad sponsored an all-expenses-paid weeklong visit of US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to PoJK. She expectedly reciprocated by making pro-Pakistan statements which Islamabad liberally used to buttress its Kashmir charade.  And despite facing a humongous financial crisis , cash-strapped Pakistan spent roughly three times more money than India on hiring lobbying firms during April-May last year.

By 2023, public anger due to poor governance and the abject apathy of PoJK authorities along with undue curbs on basic liberties had reached the tipping point. Exorbitant increase in wheat prices due to withdrawal of subsidy and inflated electricity bills acted as the trigger that forced the helpless people to take to the streets. 

The Joint Awami Action Committee [JAAC] which led the PoJK protests comprised traders, lawyers, activists and students sans any ideological or political agenda. The 38 demands projected by JAAC concern........

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