Muzaffarabad – September 30, 2025
▪️ A complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed across Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) on the call of the Jammu & Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
▪️ Authorities suspended landline, mobile, internet and social media services in several districts to contain unrest. Security was tightened as additional police and federal forces were requisitioned.
▪️ Protesters accuse the government of failing to honour a 2024 agreement that promised subsidised wheat and electricity. The JAAC has now added wider demands, including an end to elite privileges, abolition of reserved assembly seats for Kashmiri refugees in Pakistan, free healthcare and education, and curbs on government expenditures.
▪️ Negotiations between the JAAC, the AJK government, and federal representatives broke down, with each side blaming the other for the deadlock. Federal negotiators cited limits on their mandate regarding subsidies and assembly reforms.
▪️ The strike disrupted daily life: schools were closed, some converted into makeshift barracks for Frontier Constabulary troops, while hospitals and security forces remained on high alert.
▪️ AJK Interior Minister Waqar Noor defended the deployment of federal forces, citing past incidents of unrest. The JAAC, however, criticised the move, warning that use of outside forces against civilians would be “inappropriate.”
▪️ The protest stems from long-standing grievances over resource allocation, electricity tariffs, and perceived neglect by the federal government. JAAC leaders have threatened to continue demonstrations until their expanded 38-point charter of demands is addressed.
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