A territory-wide shutdown in Kashmir has paralyzed daily life following the region’s deadliest unrest in years, with at least 24 people killed over nearly two weeks of protests.
The standoff between local authorities and supporters of the recently banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) presents a sensitive challenge for Islamabad, which has often criticized New Delhi’s handling of dissent in Indian-administered Kashmir while now facing mounting anger in territory under its own control.
The unrest erupted ahead of a June 9 strike called by the JAAC, triggered by opposition to the reservation of 12 legislative seats for refugees in the July 27 elections for the region’s 45-seat assembly. The refugees reside in Pakistan after being displaced from Indian-administered Kashmir.
Protests had already intensified in the days before the shutdown, with government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, saying at least 20 civilians were killed between June 6 and June 14 and dozens more wounded. Regional police chief Liaqat Ali Malik said four officers were killed and 97 were wounded in clashes with protesters, while 515 people were detained. Thousands of JAAC supporters are now camped on the outskirts of Rawalakot, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Muzaffarabad, the regional capital.
The government has responded by shutting main roads, blocking internet access and restricting media access across much of Kashmir.
“Not Earned a Single Rupee”
In Muzaffarabad’s Upper Adda commercial district, menial laborers sit idle beneath a red-brick monument, waiting for work that has not come.
“Since June 9, I have not earned a single rupee,” said day laborer Ikhlaq Ahmed, 27, from a remote village.
The usually busy Upper Adda, once filled with grocers by day and food stalls by night, is mostly silent.
Medical stores and some grocers have begun opening for limited hours, and fruit and vegetable sellers have cautiously returned, but other businesses remain closed. Bank notices blame the government’s suspension of internet and satellite services for the closure of ATMs and banking operations, while petrol stations are also shut due to an official order.
For workers like motorcycle taxi driver Asif Naz, the crisis is unbearable.
“Those with resources may sustain it,” he said. “But for blue-collar workers like us, it is self-inflicted suffering.”
