Unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

Dr. Sudhir Kumar Das

(The writer can be reached at dasudhirk@gmail.com)

Any population will suffer if the country they live in has 38% inflation, $125 billion in external debt, a good 42% of its GDP, and the economy survives on IMF tranches on a on a month-to-month basis, let alone the people of Pakistan. The population living in any corner of the country continues to suffer the consequences of an economic meltdown and a huge external debt burden. The population includes the 41 lakh residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Since 1948, Pakistan has successfully presented the region to the outside world as a heaven on earth where milk and honey flow in the rivers. The region has seamlessly merged with it, and they are living happily ever after. If there is anything evil that is happening, it is on the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir. The establishment in Pakistan has always cried wolf about Indian Kashmir, saying that there is oppression and human rights violations of ordinary people, and India has militarily muted the rightful voice of the Kashmiris under its rule. The international media blindly gobbled up this Pakistani propaganda and painted India as an evil incarnate. However, the myth of seamless merger and the façade of a peaceful, prosperous Kashmir under Pakistani rule have burst into smithereens with the ongoing violent protests in PoK. The recent events happening in PoK point to a growing disenchantment of the ordinary public there with the ruling dispensation. It seems that everything is not right there, and in fact, it has been a simmering cauldron of discontent caused by prolonged economic exploitation, deprivation, and discrimination. This reality has gradually dawned upon the population of PoK that the federal government of Pakistan has been exploiting them economically and depriving them of their legitimate rights, as they used to do with erstwhile East Pakistan, which seceded and later became Bangladesh in 1971. 

The demands of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), primarily a body of traders, are not asking for the moon; these demands are merely a list of very basic needs of the common people, like an affordable price of food and electricity and an adequate supply of water. It is the responsibility of any sane government to provide for its citizens. The present situation is in fact an explosion of the long-simmering discontent of the masses at the perpetual economic exploitation, deprivation of local resources, and misgovernance by the ruling dispensation at the state and federal levels. The simmering discontent among the people of occupied Kashmir started with the construction and commissioning of the Neelam-Jhelum Hydro Power Project in April 2018. The dam project diverted the natural flow of the Neelam River away from the city of Muzaffarabad, causing a shortage of drinking water in the town. The diversion of the river was done without taking into consideration the local objections, causing widespread and intense dissatisfaction against the federal government in Islamabad. In May last year, protests were planned, and action committees were formed to highlight their discontent. Sensing trouble in a sensitive region like occupied Kashmir, on February 4, 2024, the Jammu Kashmir Awami Action Committee sat in negotiation with the government, and all their demands were accepted, but none of them were implemented until May 2024, which enraged the people of occupied Kashmir. The JAAC gave an ultimatum, and the Long March started on May 8 from Kotli and Mirpur to Muzaffarabad. The government had imposed 144 in the areas, and in all 10 districts of PoK, no public gatherings were allowed as a preemptive measure. The Long March turned violent and claimed the life of a policeman and several injuries. The people were angry with the government because, when the negotiations were underway, the police arrested 70 leaders of the JAAC in the middle of the night. The violent Long March made the Pakistani federal government jittery and forced it to sit up and take notice. The government of Shahbaz Shariff announced a package of Rs. 2300 billion as a subsidy on electricity and flour. But it proved too little, too late, and violence continued unabated as the mob pelted stones at the vehicles of Pakistani paramilitary force rangers, and in the ensuing firing and tear gas shelling, at least four people lost their lives. Internet and mobile services were shut down for two days; transport, trade centres, and educational institutions all remain closed indefinitely. The struggle of the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir started with demands of food, electricity, and water, the basic needs of a common man, but now it has become a political struggle with the slogans of Azadi reverberating throughout the scenic region. 

A cursory look at the charter of demands of JAAC sounds too innocuous, and it is surprising that such a list of demands has caused so much bloodshed and violence. They have put forward a list of nine demands. They are—

1.      The subsidy on wheat should be equal to that given to the people of Gilgit Baltistan. They feel that it is an injustice perpetuated on them as the water of this region is used to irrigate the rest of the country, and thus a subsidy on wheat is their rightful demand.

2.      The cost of electricity generated from the hydroelectric projects in this area should be given to people at a minimum price equal to the cost of production by the WAPDA (Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority).

3.      Subsidy given to the elites must be eliminated altogether, as it has created an undeserving privileged class and also exerts an unnecessary burden on the economy.

4.      Students’ unions should be allowed to function freely, and ban on them should be lifted.

5.      Kashmir Bank should be scheduled.

6.      Internet and mobile services should be improved so that people don’t face network problems in the region.

7.      Property transfer tax to be reduced to a reasonable level from the present high rate of 35%.

8.      The Accountable Bureau should be reformed from a toothless body to an effective anti-corruption organ.

9.      Deforestation must stop. The 2005 earthquake has destroyed the forest and houses to a great extent, and measures should be taken quickly to restore the forest cover to the pre-2005 level.

None of these nine demands seem insurmountable for a government, and to resort to firing and killing people is even more preposterous and egregious. Now that the situation has escalated, people are angry with the government, and there is a deep sense of distrust between the government and the people of occupied Kashmir, the rift will only increase. Although the federal government has promptly declared a subsidy package of Rs. 2300 billion to provide them with cheap power and flour, what about the rest of the country? People from other parts of Pakistan, too, are reeling under the same problem of high inflation and price rises. If they too, inspired by the Kashmiris, start an agitation for cheap power and flour, can the government in Islamabad sustain the economy already crushed under $125 billion of external debt? The threats of agitation for cheap flour and electricity have already come from Gilgit Baltistan. They too have threatened to launch an agitation if their demands are not fulfilled. On the other hand, the government is very conscious of the fact that the international media is highlighting the contrasting pictures of both parts of Kashmir. In the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, parliamentary elections have been held, and the polls passed peacefully with record participation of the people. In contrast, in the Pakistan-occupied part, people are on the streets demanding cheap flour and power and, in the process, getting shot. The situation is still very fluid, though the government claims to have placated the agitating mob. The long-term impact of mass movement by the people of PoK may be a contentious matter, but one thing has been proved for certain: the merger of occupied Kashmir with Pakistan is not as seamless as claimed.