Pakistan-administered Kashmir vote marred by deadly clashes

By Mubasher Bukhari and Tariq Maqbool

LAHORE/MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, July 29 (Reuters) – Protests during regional elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have turned deadly, with leaders of a banned Kashmiri group saying on Wednesday more than 30 people had been killed around one town in clashes with security forces ahead of the second round.

Pakistan’s primary governing party, the PML-N, won nine out of the 13 seats that were up for election in the districts of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber on Monday. 

The election was originally scheduled to be held in one round on July 27, but was split into three separate votes by districts, with officials citing security concerns. The second and third rounds are scheduled for August 2 and August 10.

The party that won the elections in 2021, the Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has boycotted the vote over electoral fraud concerns.

The region’s primary protest movement, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), was banned by the regional government in June, prompting deadly protests last month. 

Banking, roads and internet services have largely been disrupted since then, hindering the flow of information, meaning Reuters could not independently verify the figure of over 30 dead given by the JAAC about the clashes around Rawalakot.

AUTHORITIES SAY SECURITY PERSONNEL KILLED AND INJURED

Authorities said a member of the security personnel was killed and five more were injured in clashes on Monday.

Meanwhile an official, who asked to speak on condition of anonymity, said he was aware of at least three fatalities among protesters in Mirpur this week. 

Pakistani officials have justified the crackdown by alleging that armed and India-backed militants joined the Kashmiri protesters. India has rejected similar accusations in the past.

“The entire election was a fraud,” said Fazal Mahmood Baig, a resident in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, on Wednesday.

“We want this issue to be resolved peacefully,” Sardar Mazhar said at a protest in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

TENSIONS GO BACK DECADES

Tensions in the self-governing and Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir have roots that are decades old, but have recently gained new momentum. 

Supporters of greater regional autonomy have accused the national government in Islamabad of interference in their political affairs and of economic neglect. 

Discontent has often erupted into protests over economic issues. In 2022, demonstrators rallied against high electricity prices in the region, which supplies other parts of Pakistan with cheap hydroelectric power. 

The JAAC channelled that anger after it was founded in 2023, and focused on calls for electoral reform. Twelve of the 45 directly elected seats in the local legislative assembly are reserved for constituencies representing what the regional constitution defines as refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir.

But these seats have often been filled by people living outside the region, and the JAAC has accused Islamabad of using them to manipulate local politics — accusations Pakistani government officials have rejected. 

NO CLEAR PATH FORWARD

To form a regional government, the PML-N would likely need the support of some of the 12 representatives, said Hasan Askari, a political analyst. 

“But when their government is dependent on those 12 controversial seats, how would it be able to find a solution for this issue?” Askari said. 

Even among the candidates that did not boycott the vote on Monday, the results were contested. Parties accused each other of ballot box stealing and vote rigging. 

Government officials confirmed that one person died and several were injured in clashes between supporters of Pakistan’s two main governing parties, the PML-N and PPP, in incidents that were separate from the JAAC’s protests.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore and Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad; Editing by Rick Noack and Alison Williams)