00:00In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, unrest flared up once again in early June 2026.
00:06Protests erupted over a rule that reserves 12 seats in the region's parliament for refugees
00:11from Indian-administered Kashmir, even though those deputies live in other parts of Pakistan.
00:16Abolishing that rule is one of the dozens of demands that a grassroots Kashmir protest
00:20movement has called for.
00:22The situation is still critical and is evolving since the last two years.
00:28And when they had started the talks and they had agreed on a few things, including the
00:36controversy about these 12 seats, they agreed on a formula that they will do something and
00:44abolish these seats in the coming years, but I think the government had no such intentions.
00:51For more than two years, authorities in the region have faced multiple waves of protests.
00:57The movement is led by the Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAQ.
01:02The group has campaigned against high energy costs and wheat prices, while also demanding
01:07reform to the region's governance.
01:09The JAQ was banned under anti-terrorism laws on June 5, a day after at least 15 people were
01:15killed in the unrest.
01:27The JAQ wants the reserved assembly seats to be abolished.
01:44It argues that only people who live in Pakistan-administered Kashmir should be represented in the region's parliament.
01:52The region's Supreme Court said in June that the disputed seats are protected by the constitution,
01:56which can only be amended by its legislative assembly.
01:59So, this has given the clear message to JAQ that the government is not very much serious
02:05in fulfilling their demands, and still is going on.
02:10But the protests are about more than just parliamentary seats.
02:14The unrest stems from deeper grievances at the rising cost of living, access to resources,
02:19and the power wielded by Islamabad in the region.
02:40India and Pakistan each control parts of the Kashmir region, but claim it in its entirety.
02:46Pakistan-administered Kashmir is semi-autonomous.
02:49The region has its own prime minister and legislative assembly, but experts say that higher authority
02:55lies with the national government in Islamabad.
02:57I think there is a sense of alienation among the Kashmiris.
03:02So this is basically driving, and this is happening since the last one and two decades.
03:09But this was the vacuum created by the post-Jihad period, and the alienation created among the Kashmiris.
03:16It contributed much.
03:17Maria Iqbal Tarana, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, the same party as Prime Minister
03:23Shahbaz Sharif, said the government had agreed with the JAQ to wait until after the July 27 election in the
03:29region,
03:30known in Pakistan as Azad Kashmir.
03:31So they came to this point that, you know, they will talk to the JAQ members once again until this
03:40electoral process of Azad Kashmir gets completed on the 27th of July.
03:46Because whoever will be elected in this process will come forward in assembly and when they will hold their offices,
03:56I think they will work on the constitution of Azad Jumu in Kashmir.
04:02Dialogue is a way forward.
04:04Dialogue is a way forward and peace we must restore.
04:08The region will go to the polls on July 27 to elect the 45 seats in the next assembly, including
04:14the 12 seats that are reserved for Kashmiri refugees.
04:16Dialogue is a way forward and peace.
04:17Thank you very much.
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