Pakistan has banned Azad Kashmir’s largest rights movement, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), proscribing it as a terrorist organization and killing eleven people, while simultaneously planning an election for July 27. This action follows JAAC's demands for reduced electricity costs, wheat subsidies, and the abolition of twelve constitutionally protected assembly seats that have historically ensured Islamabad's preferred government in Muzaffarabad since 1975.
The state imposed an internet blackout on June 4, making independent verification of casualty counts difficult, with JAAC claiming twenty-seven or more civilian deaths, while official figures reported eleven fatalities confirmed by Reuters and Al Jazeera. The AJK Supreme Court ruled against delaying the election or abolishing the twelve seats, which are designed to produce outcomes favoring Islamabad. International bodies like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and over fifty British MPs have condemned the crackdown, demanding an end to the blackout, consular access, and renewed dialogue with JAAC, highlighting significant distress among the British Kashmiri community.
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