To understand what is going on in Pakistan Occupied Jammu Kashmir (POJK) nowadays, it is essential that we know the dynamics behind the demands of the protestors. Once we understand these dynamics, we can perhaps also make sense of these demands, whether they are genuine or just politically inspired meant to cause disruptions.
Let us take these demands one by one. Topmost on the agenda of the protestors is a demand for cheaper electricity for POJK residents. Why this push for supply of cheap electricity? The fact is that the POJK region produces electricity in abundance, far more than is required for its own use. However, this electricity is not available to local consumers. Where does it go then and who benefits from it, if not POJK? Well, most of the electricity produced in POJK is evacuated to the nearby Punjab province.
If truth be told, various hydropower stations located in POJK like Mangla, Kohala, Azad Pattan and others, produce four to five times the electricity than needed in POJK. However, dark nights and power failures are common complaints that the residents face. Besides, whatever little power the POJK residents get is on rates which are six to seven times higher than the cost of production!
This double whammy of not getting adequate power and high costs of power supplied is a perennial source of conflict with the Federal government. Technically, POJK is not a province of Pakistan and it gets very little by way of royalties from power production. To understand this conundrum, we need to delve a bit deeper into sleight of hand that the Federal government of Pakistan plays with POJK.
The Federal government of Pakistan has put in place a very exploitative system of revenue sharing for four provinces of Pakistan and two non provinces. Incidentally, the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) get paid six times more than non provinces like POJK and Gilgit Baltistan for power produced by them. This led to massive revenue losses for the POJK since 1967, when the first power project became operational in POJK. Besides, it also helps the Federal government pay very little to POJK.
An even more interesting fact is that despite treating Punjab and POJK differently when it comes to paying royalties, the consumers in POJK are treated the same as those of Punjab. That means the rates of rentals for the consumers in Punjab and POJK is the same! Thus, there is a system by which the Federal government treats people of Punjab and POJK differently when it comes to paying to POJK. However, the POJK people are charged the same rentals as those paid by Punjab or Sindh!
As a result, the demonstrators are now requesting that POJK receive its electricity at rates that are comparable to those generated by the various hydropower projects in the area. However, what happens is that electricity produced by Mangla, Kohala, Azad Pattan and a couple of other projects is exported to Punjab. This leads to a situation where electricity is not available for the users in POJK.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which is led by traders mostly, wants electricity supply in POJK at hydropower generation costs. They also want subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privileges of certain categories of ruling classes.
On May 9 and 10, over 100 activists were arrested to prevent them from participating in the march to Muzaffarabad. The march had been announced by the JAAC to force the government to comply with an agreement signed in February this year. This agreement was signed to deflate the ongoing protests all through POJK but nothing has been done to implement it.
On Sunday (May 12), spontaneous protests started at several places in POJK as activists gathered in large numbers. A shutter down strike across the territory, coupled with a chakka jam, led to widespread violence and one police sub-inspector lost his life. Hundreds of protestors were arrested but this has failed to curb the JAAC demands.
