Protests, boycott cast shadow on Pakistan-administered Kashmir election
A second round in regional elections held amid deadly clashes and heightened tensions over local demands for electoral reforms. Islamabad, Pakistan – By the time
A second round in regional elections held amid deadly clashes and heightened tensions over local demands for electoral reforms. Islamabad, Pakistan – By the time polling stations opened in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the city had already witnessed two days of shutdowns and empty streets. For a city meant to be voting on Sunday, it looked remarkably like one that had already decided not to. The unrest dates back to June 5 when authorities banned the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a local pressure group, for holding demonstrations over rising prices and governance. The JAAC protests soon evolved into a campaign demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the regional Legislative Assembly reserved for displaced Kashmiris living elsewhere in Pakistan. As the JAAC protests intensified, Pakistani authorities launched a crackdown on its leaders. Meanwhile, weeks of marches, negotiations and crackdowns forced the Election Commission to split the voting into three phases. The Mirpur division voted on July 27, followed by the Muzaffarabad division and the 12 refugee constituencies on Sunday. The Poonch division, the JAAC’s stronghold and the site of its deadliest clashes with authorities, is to vote last on August 10. An intermittent internet shutdown stretching beyond 50 days has disrupted campaigning and made reporting from the region increasingly difficult. Eight weeks of unrest The second phase of voting began at 8am (03:00 GMT) on Sunday under heavy security. Paramilitary personnel and police were deployed across Muzaffarabad. Markets, banks and petrol stations had been closed since Friday, and public transport was suspended as deadly protests spread.
Residents and rights groups said the death toll has surpassed 50, including at least seven law enforcement personnel. The government has not shared an official death toll. The JAAC said more than 60 civilians have been killed since June. Its leaders are not contesting the election, and the group has called for a boycott of the vote. In one of Muzaffarabad’s main squares, groups of young men gathered to denounce the election and criticise the political establishment. “We have no issue with Pakistan or its armed forces,” a man in his late 20s told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals from the authorities. “We came out for our rights, and we are being shot at directly.” Ahmer Gilani, 31, told Al Jazeera he had boycotted the vote in protest against the government’s crackdown on JAAC supporters “with absolutely no hint of an apology”. “The way the government targeted protesters, … it just made me very disillusioned,” he said. “No government should shoot its own people.” Liaqat Ali Malik, inspector general of police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, rejected allegations that his force was responsible for civilian deaths and accused sections of the media of sympathising with the JAAC protesters. “I have lost seven of my men. More than 200 of my officers have been injured in the last few weeks, but nobody wants to highlight the use of weapons by violent elements,” Malik told Al Jazeera on Monday. He also alleged that JAAC supporters repeatedly tried to disrupt polling.
The BriefWire