Tag: KashmirUnrest

Dispute of Hydroelectric between AJK and Pakistan

The ongoing civil unrest in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) stems fundamentally from a deep-rooted sense of economic and structural exploitation. At the very center of this grievance stands the Mangla Dam. As the world’s seventh-largest dam, situated in AJK’s Mirpur district, it embodies the stark disconnect between local resource contribution and regional economic deprivation.

The core of the dispute can be broken down into clear historical, financial, and environmental dimensions.

1. The Core Paradox: High Costs vs. Cheap Generation

The fundamental grievance of the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) and the general public rests on a striking mathematical asymmetry regarding energy pricing:

• The Generation Cost: Hydroelectric power from the Mangla Dam is incredibly cheap to produce. Clean water-driven generation at the source costs approximately Rs. 2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
• The Consumer Cost: Despite living adjacent to the source of this cheap energy, residents of AJK were being charged over Rs. 30 per unit by mid-2023—a price packed with heavy federal taxes, fuel price adjustments (tied to expensive imported coal and thermal plants in mainland Pakistan), and distribution surcharges.

While the federal government issued a temporary emergency subsidy package in mid-2024 dropping local household tariffs down to Rs. 3 for the baseline slab, the movement demands a permanent structural framework rather than temporary fiscal handouts. They argue that as a matter of fundamental resource right, their billing should be tethered to the actual localized cost of generation.

2. The Net Hydel Profit (NHP) and Royalty Disparity

Under Article 161(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan, provinces that generate hydroelectricity—most notably Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab—are legally entitled to a lucrative financial mechanism known as Net Hydel Profit (NHP). This is a cost-plus formula that returns substantial revenue to the generating territory based on bulk electricity supplied to the national grid.

Because AJK holds a ambiguous, semi-autonomous constitutional status and is not officially a province of Pakistan, Islamabad has historically denied it equal NHP status. Instead, AJK is paid a vastly lower, fixed rate called a Water Use Charge (WUC), which sat at a meager Rs. 0.15 per kWh for decades.

Locals view this structural exclusion as institutionalized revenue theft, pointing out that AJK injects roughly 3,500 Megawatts of cheap, green capacity into the Pakistani national grid, yet receives only a fraction of the financial windfall granted to regular provinces.

3. The Generational Trauma of Displacement

The push for cheap electricity is also driven by deep emotional and historical trauma. The construction and subsequent expansion of the Mangla Dam forced massive local sacrifices:

• The Initial Displacement (1967): The original construction inundated over 118 villages and displaced more than 100,000 native Kashmiris. Entire ancestral lands and the old city of Mirpur were permanently submerged to provide water security and power to Pakistan’s industrial hubs.
• The Dam Raising Project (2004–present): A massive project to raise the dam’s height by 40 feet to combat siltation submerged an additional 15,780 acres. Decades later, a significant portion of the agreed-upon multi-billion rupee compensation and resettlement package remains gridlocked within the federal Ministry of Finance, triggering formal warnings from the Ministry of Defence regarding internal security risks.

4. Severe Infrastructure Ironies

While the water from the Jhelum River spins turbines that illuminate factories in Punjab and Sindh, the people of AJK face intense daily infrastructure failures. The region experiences prolonged rolling blackouts (load-shedding) lasting up to 10 hours a day, alongside severe local water scarcity in the very districts that border the massive reservoir.

For the protest movement, demanding electricity at production cost is not a request for charity. It is viewed as an inherent right of resource ownership—a logical compensation for the absolute sacrifice of their land, the environmental alteration of their rivers, and the historical displacement of their families.

Pakistan & Kashmir two brothe: Dispute of 12 Refugees seats, Are We!

Kash! above photo become real!

The dispute over the 12 reserved refugee seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly is a flashpoint of the current political crisis. To understand why these seats are such a deeply guarded, unyielding fixture of the regional government, one has to examine both their mid-century origins and how they are woven into the legal fabric of the state.

1. The Historical Origins: 1947 to 1974

The system of reserved refugee seats traces its roots directly to the partition of the subcontinent and the first Kashmir war.

• The Waves of Displacement: Between 1947 and 1965, hundreds of thousands of people fled from Indian-administered areas of Jammu and Kashmir into mainland Pakistan (primarily settling across provinces like Punjab). Under regional law, these displaced populations and their descendants retained their status as “State Subjects” natives of Jammu and Kashmir under the historical 1927 definition established by the Dogra dynasty.
• Evolution of Representation: To give these displaced populations a political voice while they lived outside the geographic borders of AJK, early electoral frameworks were experimented with in 1960 and 1964. By 1970, when a presidential system based on adult franchise was introduced, refugees living in Pakistan were formally granted the right to vote for representatives in the regional assembly.
• The 1974 Codification: The system was permanently solidified into law via Article 22 of the AJK Interim Constitution Act of 1974. The seats were strictly split down the middle: six seats allocated for refugees originating from the Kashmir Valley, and six seats for those originating from Jammu. Because the voters are scattered across mainland Pakistan, voting for these 12 seats takes place outside AJK’s geographical territory.

2. Why They Are Constitutionally Protected

The reason these seats cannot simply be dissolved by a prime minister or an executive order lies in the unique, dual nature of the AJK Constitution and a recent landmark judicial ruling.

The Doctrine of “Personal Jurisdiction”

While the AJK government only exercises territorial jurisdiction over the physical land of Azad Kashmir, its constitution explicitly maintains personal jurisdiction over all Kashmiris defined as State Subjects. The constitution views the local resident population and the displaced refugee population as legally equal. Therefore, representation is treated as an indivisible, fundamental right of the Kashmiri people, regardless of which side of the Line of Control (LoC) or provincial border they reside on.

The Geopolitical Symbolism

From Pakistan’s perspective on the wider Kashmir conflict, abolishing these seats would be a major diplomatic setback. Keeping the seats intact serves as a continuous, symbolic legal statement to the United Nations and the international community that the territory remains disputed, its population is temporarily displaced, and the final status of the entire 1947 borders of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be decided.

The 2026 Supreme Court Ruling

In June 2026, amid intense street pressure from the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) to abolish the seats ahead of regional elections, the Supreme Court of AJK issued a decisive 32-page advisory opinion.

The high court ruled that:

• The 12 refugee seats are firmly entrenched structural features of the state’s polity.
• They cannot be altered, abridged, or abolished via executive fiat or administrative orders.
• Any change to this seat allocation requires a formal, two-thirds constitutional amendment under Article 33 passed directly by the Legislative Assembly.

Because mainstream Pakistani political parties heavily rely on these 12 seats to build coalitions and form the regional government in Muzaffarabad, obtaining the legislative majority required to pass such an amendment remains virtually impossible. This creates a deep constitutional deadlock between the legal protections upheld by the courts and the democratic demands of the protesters on the ground.

From Bread Subsidies to the “Terror” Tag: The Escalating Crisis in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir

Over the past three weeks, Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has been consumed by a severe wave of civil unrest, resulting in a deadly state crackdown, internet blackouts, mass arbitrary arrests, and a highly controversial counter-terrorism designation aimed at a civilian rights movement.

What began over a year ago as a localized economic grievance regarding the soaring costs of flour and electricity has transformed into a profound political and human rights crisis.

The Trigger: Electoral Seats and Economic Strain

he underlying friction in the region dates back to mid-2023, when the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) a broad-based, grassroots coalition of traders, lawyers, and civil society members began mobilizing mass demonstrations. The initial rallying cries were grounded in severe socioeconomic distress: demands for subsidized wheat flour, the elimination of lavish perks enjoyed by local bureaucrats, and electricity provision at the actual cost of production.

While the regional administration conceded to some economic demands following a massive “long march” toward Muzaffarabad in May 2024, deep-seated political tensions boiled over in early June 2026.

The immediate catalyst for the current phase of unrest is a fierce constitutional battle regarding the upcoming regional elections. The JKJAAC has demanded the abolition of 12 seats in the 45-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly that are strictly reserved for refugees who migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir decades ago and currently reside in other provinces of Pakistan.

The protest movement argues that these reserved seats allow non-residents to wield disproportionate influence over the political affairs and governance of AJK. However, on June 7, 2026, the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir ruled that these seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be altered without a formal constitutional amendment.

The judicial validation of the seat allocation immediately re-ignited mass public demonstrations.

The State Backlash: Human Rights Under Siege

In response to the resurgent, largely peaceful democratic demonstrations, the state apparatus deployed a severe security apparatus that human rights watchdogs warn has crossed dangerous red lines.

On June 5, 2026, the regional home department formally designated the JKJAAC as a “proscribed organization” under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act. By branding a grassroots civil liberties coalition as a terrorist entity, authorities unlocked vast executive powers to suppress the dissent.

Amnesty International and local human rights groups have strongly condemned this designation, warning that utilizing anti-terror legislation against civil rights advocates marks a dangerous escalation intended to justify the use of lethal force and arbitrary detention.

Key Human Rights Concerns in AJK (June 2026)

• Abuse of Anti-Terror Laws (JKJAAC proscription)

• Mass Arbitrary Arrests & Sedition Charges

• Documented Fatalities (At least 11–20 deaths during recent clashes)

• Digital Clampdown (Complete mobile internet blackouts)

The human rights fallout over the past three weeks has been severe:

• Excessive and Lethal Use of Force: Clashes erupted in Rawalakot, Kotli, and Mirpur between demonstrators and heavily deployed federal paramilitary forces. Official estimates confirm that at least 11 individuals—including both civil protesters and security personnel—were killed in the first week of June alone, with some independent human rights trackers pushing the total casualty count closer to 20 dead and over 70 injured.
• Arbitrary Detentions and Sedition Charges: Dozens of activists and political coordinators have been swept into custody. The crackdown culminated in a high-profile raid resulting in the arrest of prominent JKJAAC leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir on sedition charges, following the state offering a 10 million rupee bounty for his capture.
• Information Blackouts: To prevent the coordination of rallies and to obstruct the documentation of state violence, authorities instituted severe regional internet and mobile data blackouts. This digital isolation has shielded law enforcement actions from international oversight and heavily disrupted independent local journalism.

The Underlying Crisis of Regional Autonomy

The violence of the past few weeks is a structural symptom of a much deeper, long-standing systemic crisis concerning governance, resource distribution, and regional autonomy.

A central point of local resentment centers around electricity. Residents argue that AJK produces substantial hydroelectric power for the national grid via major installations like the Mangla Dam, yet locals endure up to 10 hours of daily rolling blackouts while being forced to pay highly taxed, inflated electricity bills.

Furthermore, the overarching political structures—such as the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, which is chaired directly by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and populated heavily by unelected federal officials—leave local populations feeling fundamentally disenfranchised.

By treating local economic survival and demands for political accountability as security threats and acts of terrorism, the state has closed off the traditional avenues of democratic negotiation. As the region heads toward a highly contentious election cycle under the shadow of a militarized crackdown, the gulf between the local populace and the state apparatus continues to widen.

Mainly Two Issues:

1. Dispute of 12 Refugees seats and
2. Dispute of Hydroelectric between AJK and Pakistan

Read about these two issues in next article. And also watch two videos shared just before this article on main Stream