{"id":107793,"date":"2026-06-12T11:05:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=107793"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:35:04","slug":"pok-protests-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/pok-protests-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"PoK Protests Explained: Causes, Crackdown and the 12 Seats Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>PoK Protests Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least 15 people have been killed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as violent protests rage just a month before scheduled local elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pakistani authorities have responded with a crackdown \u2014 banning the protest-leading organisation, announcing bounties for leaders&#8217; arrest, and clashing with locals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has condemned the &#8220;police brutality&#8221; and called on the international community to hold Pakistan accountable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Background: A Region Long Restless<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PoK protests are not new. Unrest began in 2023 when residents mobilised against rising electricity bills and shortages of subsidised wheat.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Mangla Dam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a major hydropower project built on PoK&#8217;s rivers \u2014 displaced local communities but the region continues to pay high power tariffs, a long-standing grievance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chronic underdevelopment, heavy security deployment due to militancy, and the dominance of Islamabad-appointed bureaucrats over the Legislative Assembly have deepened public anger over the years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The protest movement is spearheaded by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) \u2014 a coalition of traders, professionals, and civil society activists.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Immediate Flashpoint: The 12 Seats Controversy<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The current flash point is a Pakistan Supreme Court verdict upholding <\/span><b>12 seats in the 53-member PoK Assembly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reserved for Jammu and Kashmir migrants settled in different parts of Pakistan \u2014 some in Punjab, some in Sindh, and so on.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The polling for these seats is conducted outside PoK, and the local Election Commission has no role in it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In effect, out of 53 seats in the PoK Assembly, local voters directly elect only 33 members.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides the 12 refugee seats, there are 5 seats reserved for women, 1 for Ulamas (religious scholars), 1 for overseas Kashmiris, and 1 for technocrats.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Why Do Locals Oppose These Seats<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Local PoK residents argue that these <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12 seats are effectively used by the federal government in Islamabad to plant its loyalists in the PoK Assembly<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 people with no genuine connection to Kashmir.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They complain that MQM members \u2014 representing Urdu-speaking immigrants \u2014 end up in their Assembly through these seats.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is also a <\/span><b>financial grievance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: the salaries and expenses of these 20 centrally-controlled representatives (12 refugee + 8 other reserved seats) are funded from PoK&#8217;s own budget, even though local voters have no say in electing them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>India&#8217;s Parallel: An Important Distinction<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supporters of this reservation draw a comparison \u2014 India too has reserved seats in the J&amp;K Assembly for people displaced from Pakistan-occupied territories.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, a <\/span><b>crucial difference exists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India keeps those seats <\/span><b>vacant<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, unlike Pakistan which actively fills them<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Pakistan&#8217;s Response: Crackdown Over Dialogue<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than addressing core grievances, Pakistan&#8217;s response has been repressive.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JAAC has been <\/span><b>banned<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and its leaders booked under stringent charges including <\/span><b>sedition and terror laws<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The crackdown has drawn international attention \u2014 a significant PoK diaspora in the UK has been vocal, and Bradford East MP<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">along with other UK parliamentarians wrote to the British Foreign Secretary demanding restoration of communications and resumption of peaceful talks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Gilgit-Baltistan: A Parallel Crisis<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) \u2014 the other part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under Pakistan&#8217;s illegal occupation \u2014 shares many of PoK&#8217;s problems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These include: chronic underdevelopment, dominance by the federal government, and denial of full political rights.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Key Differences<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike PoK, GB has a large Shia Muslim population, which has led to sectarian strife.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also more isolated \u2014 even from the Pakistani mainstream \u2014 and receives far less media attention.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some sections in GB have demanded full integration with Pakistan as a province, a move Islamabad has resisted because <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">granting full provincial status would complicate its demand for a plebiscite over the broader J&amp;K dispute<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>India&#8217;s Position<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India strongly protested the recent elections held in GB.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0MEA reiterated that the entire Union Territories of J&amp;K and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, are integral and inalienable parts of India by virtue of the complete and irrevocable Instrument of Accession signed in 1947.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has consistently opposed the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/china-pakistan-economic-corridor\/\" target=\"_blank\">China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)<\/a><\/strong>, which passes through GB, on grounds of sovereignty violation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After India revoked Article 370 in 2019, there were talks of Pakistan granting GB full provincial status as a reciprocal political move, but those plans were never implemented.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PoK&#8217;s unrest is the inevitable consequence of occupation without representation \u2014 a region exploited for its resources, denied its political voice, and governed by a distant power&#8217;s interests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As protests spread across PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan, the crisis underscores the challenges of managing contested territories through coercion rather than dialogue.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For India, it also reinforces its longstanding position that these regions remain integral parts of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Sourc<\/b><strong>e: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/whats-behind-the-pok-protests-weight-of-history-woes-of-the-present-10735432\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/world\/pakistan-pojk-clashes-joint-awami-action-committee-protests-death-toll-india-reaction-10731400\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PoK Protests have intensified over political representation, governance and reserved seats. Understand the causes, Pakistan&#8217;s crackdown and India&#8217;s position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":107809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,8083,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-107793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-pok-protests","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs-tag","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107793"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107807,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107793\/revisions\/107807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}