In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, public concerns over inflation, electricity bills, administrative reforms and basic civic facilities led to an agreement between the government and the Joint Awami Action Committee. The purpose of that agreement was to resolve public issues in a phased, constitutional and lawful manner.
Following the agreement, the government has made practical progress on several points, provided financial relief, introduced administrative reforms and moved multiple development projects into approval, feasibility, PC-I, tendering and federal forum stages.
Despite this visible progress, the JAAC leadership’s strike call for June 9, 2026 has raised serious questions in AJK’s political and social environment. When demands are being implemented, public relief has been provided and development projects worth billions of rupees are moving forward, continued protest and confrontation now appear less like a struggle for public rights and more like an attempt to pursue personal agendas, preserve political relevance and build pressure before elections.
At the government level, 177 FIRs have already been withdrawn, while more than Rs118 million has been paid in compensation to the families of the deceased and injured. Similarly, the 5KW tariff adjustment has been implemented, surcharges have been waived and electricity arrears have been divided into 36 instalments. Electricity arrears related to the Mangla Dam project have also been waived, while the Sehat Card facility has been extended to Kashmiri citizens.
Under administrative reforms, the number of departments has been reduced to 22 and the cabinet size has been brought down to 20 ministers. The open merit policy has also been implemented in admissions and government appointments.
Feasibility studies, PC-I processes, CDWP approvals and tendering are technical and time-consuming stages. Presenting them as “government failure” risks misleading the public and prolonging confrontation.
In the development sector, projects worth billions of rupees have entered practical stages, including MRI and CT scan projects worth Rs5.5 billion, hospital upgradation projects worth Rs2.8 billion, a Rs10 billion electricity system improvement plan, feasibility studies for Neelum Valley Road and Kahuta-Azad Pattan Road, and several water supply schemes.
Despite this progress, the renewed protest call by Shoukat Nawaz, Sardar Umar and Aman Ullah raises questions about intent and motive. If demands are being implemented, relief is being provided and projects are moving ahead, then who is this politics of chaos really serving? Is this about public interest, or is it an attempt by a few individuals to shut down Kashmir again for personal politics, ego and electoral gain?
Feasibility studies, PC-I processes, CDWP approvals and tendering are technical and time-consuming stages. However, JAAC leaders are presenting these processes as “government failure”. This approach appears designed to mislead ordinary people, inflame emotions and keep protest politics alive. Some leaders seem more interested in keeping issues alive than resolving them, because once the issue is resolved, their political shop may also close.
The biggest price of every strike and shutdown is paid by the common Kashmiri. A labourer loses his daily wage, a shopkeeper loses business, a student loses education and a patient suffers hardship, while protest leaders gain political attention, media space and personal benefit. What kind of public service is this, where the people make the sacrifice and a few faces polish their politics?
The real question is simple: if protest must continue even after progress on 32 points, then what was the purpose of the demands in the first place? Does the JAAC leadership truly want issues resolved, or does it want to use public hardship as a political ladder?
The people of AJK want stability, development, open markets, functioning educational institutions and completed projects, not another artificial crisis before elections for the personal interests of a few self-serving elements.
The most dangerous development is that the Action Committee is now speaking on constitutional matters and Kashmir’s relationship with Pakistan. This shows that its objectives may be different from the initial public demands it presented.
At this stage, the common Kashmiri must ask a few basic questions.
When progress has been made on 32 points, 177 FIRs have been withdrawn, compensation has been paid and relief has been provided, why are Shoukat Nawaz, Sardar Umar and Aman Ullah still determined to shut down Kashmir again?
When 5KW tariff relief, waiver of surcharges, 36 instalments for arrears, Sehat Card, open merit and administrative reforms have already been implemented, is this new strike really for public rights, or to save the political shop of the JAAC leadership?
When MRI, CT scan, hospital, electricity system, road and water supply projects are at feasibility, PC-I, CDWP and tendering stages, will protest speed them up or delay them further?
Is the JAAC leadership telling people the full truth, or deliberately portraying technical and legal processes as “government failure” to keep anger, agitation and its own politics alive?
When relief has already been given on electricity bills, surcharges have been waived and arrears divided into 36 instalments, under whose agenda are people being pushed back onto the streets?
In every strike, the labourer’s wage, the trader’s business, the student’s education and the patient’s treatment suffer. Will Shoukat Nawaz, Sardar Umar and Aman Ullah pay this price too, or will the sacrifice once again be demanded only from the common Kashmiri?
Is this really a public movement, or a campaign for personal fame, media attention, electoral pressure and political benefit?
Does the JAAC leadership want the issue resolved, or does it want to keep the issue alive because resolution would end its protest politics?
Has the common Kashmiri given anyone the authority to turn his children’s education, patients’ treatment, business, livelihood and daily life into fuel for politics?
What kind of leadership shuts down Kashmir in the name of Kashmir?
The common Kashmiri must think carefully. If the loss from a strike is yours and the benefit goes to someone else, can it truly be your movement?
The people must now decide whether they want peace, employment, development, open markets, functioning hospitals and completed projects, or another shutdown every few months for the political display of a few individuals. They must decide whether they stand with their own future, or with those who want to use that future as fuel for politics.
The writer is a freelance columnist