Protests intensify in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after govt bans Primary Advocacy Body (JAAC) ahead of elections

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is on the edge. In an order issued Friday, the POJK Home Department declared the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the territory's most prominent civil society platform, a proscribed terrorist organisation under the POJK Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014. The ban comes days before a territory-wide strike and wheel-jam (Chakka-Jam), shutdown the JAAC has called for June 9.

The move triggered an immediate crackdown. POJK police announced the arrest of 72 JAAC members following the ban, with searches ongoing for additional members. Today protesters responded by blocking the Pattan Entry Point, a key gateway into the territory, while traders and citizens shut down Chakswari Bazaar and began a sit-in protest.

Unrest sharpened further after some media reports claimed police opened fire late at night on two prominent JAAC members, Umar Nazir Kashmiri and Shahzaib Habib, with media reports suggesting Nazir Kashmiri was injured and Shahzaib had died.

Background: Who Is JAAC?

Founded on September 16, 2023, JAAC is a grassroots civil society coalition of trade bodies, transporters, lawyers, and student groups that became the primary platform for public agitation in POJK. The movement grew out of protests over electricity bills and commodity prices in 2022, escalating through repeated cycles of mass strikes, government promises, and broken agreements.

The most violent phase came in September-October 2025. At least nine people were killed and over 200 injured before the government and JAAC reached a compromise, with the government vowing to address the charter of demands within six months. That commitment was never meaningfully delivered, JAAC members said in public gatherings, setting the stage for the current crisis.

The 12 Seats Issue

The trigger for the June 9 strike is a specific constitutional grievance. POJK's 53-member Legislative Assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees, people who fled Indian-administered Kashmir in 1947 and 1965, who are now spread across mainland Pakistan.

JAAC alleges these seats are frequently used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to exploit the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad, effectively giving Islamabad a back-channel grip on POJK's legislature. Of all 38 points in JAAC's charter, this remained the sole unresolved demand and the principal stumbling block in negotiations.

The government has flatly refused to meet the demand over seats. The POJK Legislative Assembly passed a resolution retaining the 12 seats, and an All Parties Conference declared constitutional reforms the exclusive prerogative of elected representatives.

Why June 9?

June 9 is the same date the POJK Election Commission has scheduled for candidates to begin filing nomination papers for the July 27 general elections. By calling a territory-wide shutdown on that date, JAAC is directly disrupting the electoral process, and Islamabad has responded not with fresh talks but with a terrorism ban.

POJK's Inspector General of Police formally requested 14,000 additional security personnel from the federal government to secure the territory between June 7 and June 21. A further 1,505 Islamabad Police personnel have been deployed to POJK. The government also issued a travel advisory asking tourists to leave the region by Saturday evening and avoid travel through June 20. The June 9 protest call remains in force, while the situation is fluid.