Protestors in Pakistan occupied Kashmir are raising their voices against the rising costs of food, fuel, and utilities, and a host of other problems that plague the region.
Violent street protests in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have left a police officer dead and more than 90 people injured since Friday (May 10), Pakistani media reported.
The violence erupted after about 70 members of the Joint Awami Action Committee, an organisation led by traders in the region, were arrested during a strike to protest the rising costs of food, fuel, and utilities. Pakistan’s economic crisis and high inflation have resulted in hardships for its people, and a section of traders have been additionally hit by the stopping of trade with India.
The protests in PoK
The traders took to the streets on Friday to protest against high electricity and food prices. There were similar protests against high electricity bills in August 2023 as well.
A general strike halted Muzaffarabad, the capital and largest city of PoK, as public transport, shops, markets, and businesses shut down. As large numbers of protesters broke barricades and clashed with police in the Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions. On Sunday, the paramilitary Rangers were called in to secure government buildings such as the legislative assembly and the courts.
Pakistan’s economy has been witnessing extremely high inflation and dismal economic growth for more than two years due to rising energy costs. Consumer inflation has been above 20% since May 2022, and touched 38% in May 2023, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Alleged discrimination
Leaders in PoK have been protesting alleged discrimination by the government in Islamabad in the distribution of power to the area. Dawn reported on complaints by the region’s premier Chaudhry Anwarul Haq about not receiving their fair share of the 2,600MW of hydropower produced by the Neelum-Jhelum project.
Haq has also said that his request for resources to increase salaries of government employees in the recent budget was not accepted, and that he had been forced to divert development funds to pay them.