Editorial
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) to withdraw its call for an indefinite “lockdown” in Azad Kashmir, as tensions grow over long-standing demands of rights and governance.
The JKJAAC has presented a 38-point charter of demands before the Azad Kashmir government, ranging from the removal of privileges for ruling elites to the abolition of 12 legislative seats reserved for migrants from Indian-administered Kashmir, as well as the allocation of royalties for hydel power projects generated in the region. The group has spearheaded several protests in recent years, including a major one in November last year that turned violent before it ended with government assurances.
This year, the committee has called for a lockdown starting September 29, raising concerns of prolonged unrest. In response, senior leaders of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in both Pakistan and Azad Kashmir began consultations to defuse the situation. Mushtaq Minhas, a senior party member, quoted Sharif as saying in London: “We will reach out to the Joint Action Committee, invite its representatives, and resolve the issues of Kashmiris.”
Minhas added that the prime minister pledged to address grievances affecting all Kashmiris, promising his personal role in easing the crisis. The call for dialogue came amid reports of internet and mobile phone service suspensions across Azad Kashmir, reportedly on the instructions of Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior.
The backdrop to these tensions is volatile. In May, at least three protesters and a police officer were killed during demonstrations over subsidies for wheat flour and electricity. That unrest ended only after Pakistan announced an $83 million subsidy package and reduced local prices.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir, divided between Pakistan and India since 1947, continues to face overlapping crises of governance, identity, and autonomy. The latest wave of protests in Azad Kashmir parallels unrest in Ladakh, where Indian authorities face growing resistance to direct rule imposed in 2019.
Sharif’s promise of engagement offers a pause, but whether dialogue can ease resentment in Azad Kashmir will depend on meaningful concessions rather than repeated assurances.
