Islamabad Ready For Crackdown As PoK Heads For Legislative Polls Amid Unrest

Amid the ongoing protests and violent clashes, the so-called legislative assembly of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is set to head to elections today. Elections for 45 contesting seats in PoK are to be held in three phases till August 10.

There are 53 seats in the so-called legislative assembly of PoK, of which 45 are directly elected, while eight seats are reserved for women, technocrats, and clerics. 

According to PoK's Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, polling in 13 constituencies of the Mirpur division will be held on July 27, nine constituencies of the Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies on August 2, and 11 constituencies of the Poonch division on August 10.

Islamabad Gets Ready For Crackdown

Pakistan's Punjab province has deployed 14,000 police personnel in the region for security duty in anticipation of violence during the polling. Of these, 30 per cent are carrying weapons, and 70 per cent are equipped with anti-riot equipment, a Pakistani government official told news agency PTI.

Protest In PoK

The additional force deployment was needed as the PoK region saw unprecedented violence following widespread protests by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) that lasted for nearly two months. The JAAC's main demand was the abolition of the 12 refugee seats. Earlier, at least 12 seats were reserved for refugees who settled in PoK post-1947.

Dozens of people, including security men, have been killed in the violence, following which Islamabad last month banned the JAAC.

In the polls, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is contesting against the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which is its coalition partner in the federal government. Former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has boycotted these polls.

India's Stand 

India maintains that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of it. New Delhi also asserts that Pakistan has been in "illegal and forcible occupation" of parts of these Union Territories.

Earlier this month, New Delhi noted that protests in PoK were a "direct consequence" of Islamabad's decades-long "systemic exploitation and administrative oppression" in areas under its "forcible" occupation and criticised reported police brutality on the protesters.