**Submission statement**: Recent elections in Azad Kashmir have been accompanied by protests, with thousands of local demonstrators calling for an end to Kashmir’s quota system that reserves seats for Kashmiri refugees in local elections (many of these refugees no longer live in Kashmir) and other electoral reforms. Pakistan’s military police has enforced a harsh crackdown on the protests, firing into the crowds and killing a total of 30 people in two days. Pakistan has also imposed a severe communication shutdown, including an internet and mobile services blackout accompanied by mass arrests.
**Why this matters**: The actions by the Pakistani police and government in Azad Kashmir are flagrantly anti democratic and authoritarian. The situation also highlights the complicity of Pakistani media, which has largely ignored the protests and alleged killings and has instead promulgated conspiracy theories that the protests are funded and engineered by India. Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an investigation into the deadly violence.
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**Submission statement**: Recent elections in Azad Kashmir have been accompanied by protests, with thousands of local demonstrators calling for an end to Kashmir’s quota system that reserves seats for Kashmiri refugees in local elections (many of these refugees no longer live in Kashmir) and other electoral reforms. Pakistan’s military police has enforced a harsh crackdown on the protests, firing into the crowds and killing a total of 30 people in two days. Pakistan has also imposed a severe communication shutdown, including an internet and mobile services blackout accompanied by mass arrests.
**Why this matters**: The actions by the Pakistani police and government in Azad Kashmir are flagrantly anti democratic and authoritarian. The situation also highlights the complicity of Pakistani media, which has largely ignored the protests and alleged killings and has instead promulgated conspiracy theories that the protests are funded and engineered by India. Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an investigation into the deadly violence.
!ping SOUTH-ASIA&IND