Why has Pakistan-administered Kashmir erupted in protest again?

Islamabad, Pakistan – An uneasy calm hangs implicit Pakistan-administered Kashmir arsenic the portion marked the 4th time of a implicit shutdown connected Thursday, with astatine slightest 15 radical killed – including 3 constabulary officers – during convulsive clashes betwixt protesters and information forces.

Dozens much person been injured connected some sides arsenic the standoff continues.

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The national authorities has dispatched a negotiating committee that arrived connected Thursday successful Muzaffarabad, the territory’s capital, to clasp important talks with the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an umbrella organisation representing traders and civilian nine groups that has emerged arsenic the dependable of grassroots discontent crossed the region.

Led by activistic Shaukat Nawaz Mir, the JAAC-organised lockdown commenced connected September 29 and has brought respective districts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir – locally known arsenic Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) – to a grinding halt.

The government, connected its part, has meantime imposed a complete communications blackout, with residents chopped disconnected from mobile telecommunications and net entree since September 28.

In Muzaffarabad, the usually bustling markets person remained shuttered, portion thoroughfare vendors and nationalist transport person vanished from the roads. The paralysis has near the region’s astir 4 cardinal residents successful a authorities of uncertainty.

The authorities said successful a connection that authorities were moving to reconstruct bid and urged the nationalist not to beryllium swayed by what officials described arsenic propaganda and “fake news” circulating connected societal media arsenic portion of a “specific agenda”.

This JAAC-led protestation – the third specified large mobilisation successful the past 2 years – erupted aft the authorities failed to hold to the committee’s 38-point demands, according to the group’s leaders.

The existent situation marks the latest escalation successful a two-year confrontation betwixt Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s section authorities and a grassroots question that has shown its thoroughfare powerfulness connected respective occasions.

What sparked the protests?

The Kashmir vale is the picturesque yet profoundly contentious Himalayan region implicit which Pakistan and India person fought aggregate wars since some nations gained independency from British assemblage regularisation successful 1947. Both power parts of it, with China besides administering 2 slivers of the region’s north. The portion is claimed successful its entirety by India, portion Pakistan claims each of Kashmir but the parts held by China, its ally.

With a colonisation exceeding 4 million, according to the 2017 census, Pakistan-administered Kashmir operates nether a semi-autonomous strategy with its ain premier curate and legislative assembly.

The existent unrest has roots successful May 2023, erstwhile residents archetypal took to the streets to protestation against what they said were skyrocketing energy bills. Simultaneously, complaints emerged astir wide flour smuggling and acute shortages successful subsidised wheat supplies.

By August 2023, these disparate grievances had coalesced into organised resistance. In September of that year, hundreds of activists gathered successful Muzaffarabad to formally found the JAAC, bringing unneurotic representatives from each districts of the region.

The question reached its archetypal large flashpoint successful May 2024, erstwhile protesters launched a agelong march towards Muzaffarabad. Violent clashes ensued, resulting successful the deaths of astatine slightest 5 people, including a constabulary officer.

The convulsive protests were suspended lone aft Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed to cardinal demands to slash flour prices and trim energy tariffs, with the authorities allocating billions of rupees successful subsidies to marque flour affordable and enactment energy terms reductions.

However, the bid proved short-lived. In August of this year, the JAAC announced it would motorboat different lockdown, this clip broadening its critique beyond economical grievances.

Commuters thrust past burning logs on a thoroughfare blocked by the protesters during a objection successful Muzaffarabad, superior of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, connected October 1, 2025, demanding structural reforms and governmental and economical rights [Farooq Naeem/AFP]

Why are protesters dissatisfied, and what are their demands?

The latest charter of demands presented by the JAAC consists of 38 chiseled points. The demands scope from providing escaped acquisition and healthcare facilities and launching large infrastructure projects to changing the operation of the provincial legislature.

But topping the database is the abolition of what the JAAC characterises arsenic “ruling elite privileges”, a request that has featured prominently successful erstwhile sets of grievances arsenic well.

The JAAC maintains that pursuing the May 2024 protests, the authorities acknowledged that a judicial committee would beryllium formed to reappraisal “privileges granted to precocious authorities officials”.

Some of the perks provided to elder authorities officials, specified arsenic ministers, see 2 government-provided vehicles, idiosyncratic unit including bodyguards, arsenic good arsenic unlimited substance for vehicles they usage for authorities work.

A 2nd cardinal demand, incorporated into the JAAC’s database for the archetypal time, involves ending the strategy of 12 reserved seats for refugees successful the autonomous region’s legislative assembly.

According to the JAAC, refugees and their descendants, who migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir aft the 1947 partition, present represent a almighty governmental bloc that has monopolised improvement funds.

The charter besides demands the withdrawal of ineligible cases filed against activists during the protests that erupted successful 2023 and 2024.

Demands besides see taxation exemptions and improved employment opportunities, among others.

Infrastructure improvement features prominently successful the JAAC’s vision. The committee has demanded caller projects, including tunnels and bridges connecting the mountainous portion with the remainder of Pakistan, isolated from an planetary airport.

Muzaffarabad presently has an airdrome that has remained nonoperational for years. However, successful April of this year, Prime Minister Sharif formed a committee to enactment connected reviving the project. He besides issued instructions to analyse the feasibility of the improvement of different airdrome successful Mirpur, the second-largest metropolis successful the region.

How is the authorities responding?

The section medication has implemented a communications blackout and has ordered acquisition institutions unopen indefinitely.

More controversially, it has called for paramilitary forces arsenic good arsenic further constabulary contingents from the remainder of Pakistan.

The JAAC has objected to the deployment of paramilitary forces. Mir, the JAAC leader, told reporters earlier this week that with section constabulary already present, “there was nary request to bid paramilitary from mainland Pakistan”.

Abdul Majid Khan, the concern curate of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, acknowledged that portion determination had already been a archetypal circular of negotiations, a caller committee had present arrived successful Muzaffarabad specifically tasked with addressing the protesters’ grievances.

“Initially, erstwhile they launched their protestation past year, it was each astir energy and flour price, and we agreed connected those. But they besides indispensable recognize that things cannot hap overnight, and they instrumentality time,” Khan said, defending the government.

However, Khan acknowledged that portion the authorities has agreed to astir of the JAAC’s 38 points, negotiations person reached a deadlock connected 2 peculiarly contentious issues – the elimination of the 12 reserved seats for refugees and what the JAAC calls ending “ruling elite perks”.

Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a person of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), shows bullets allegedly fired by constabulary during a objection successful Muzaffarabad, superior of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, connected October 1, 2025 [Farooq Naeem/AFP]

The curate challenged the logic down eliminating seats reserved for refugees, pointing to what they mislaid astatine the clip of the subcontinent’s partition.

“These are the radical whose families migrated from India, wherever they were landowners and businesspeople, but moved to Pakistan successful abject poverty, having near their wealthiness behind, but JAAC thinks it is unjust to springiness them a quota of seats. If we don’t springiness these radical the rights, past wherefore did they adjacent spell done the occupation of moving here?” Khan argued.

The curate himself belongs to the estimated 2.7 cardinal radical successful the portion whose families migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir.

Khan besides questioned the logic of renewed protests, fixed that the JAAC’s erstwhile demands had mostly been met. He said that for galore of the existent issues, section authorities indispensable question backing from the national authorities successful Islamabad.

“There is hardly immoderate taxation connected the radical here, with already reduced energy tariffs. Additionally, we person little than 5,000 taxation filers successful the full region, which shows small gross procreation for the government,” helium said.

What happens next?

Thursday’s negotiations betwixt authorities representatives and JAAC members concluded without immoderate resolution, with the adjacent circular of talks expected connected Friday.

Both sides publically profess their committedness to dialogue, but distrust runs heavy aft repeated cycles of promises and disappointments.

Despite the JAAC’s persistent protests, the authorities maintains it has met astir demands and that law and electoral reforms necessitate legislative processes that cannot hap overnight.

Khan indicated that erstwhile determination is meaningful advancement successful negotiations, the authorities volition determination rapidly to reconstruct net and mobile services, which helium said “had to beryllium curtailed owed to the concern connected the ground”.

“With the dialog squad being contiguous successful Muzaffarabad, I americium definite determination volition beryllium a solution to this deadlock, and things volition instrumentality to normalcy soon,” Khan said.