Pakistan sends more police to Kashmir ahead of protest shutdown

Pakistan’s capital police have deployed 1000 additional officers to Pakistan-administered Kashmir after already dispatching 2000 earlier this week, as authorities brace for a region-wide shutdown called by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on September 29.

Police officials said the new contingent will be led by SSP Operations Islamabad. Senior officers, including the DIG Law and Order, DIG Security, SSP Safe City, and SPs, had already moved to the region on Wednesday with the first batch of 2000 policemen.

Earlier on Friday, the Inspector General (IG) of Islamabad Police directed all station house officers, constables, head constables, SDPOs, and staff from SPs’ offices to immediately report to police headquarters, along with the entire staff of SSP Investigation and SSP Operations.

Police sources said the mobilization was in preparation for sending more personnel to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

According to sources, senior command also warned that policemen named on the deployment list who refused to go would face dismissal from service.

The legal team of JAAC has submitted applications to all police stations before the protest, stating that if anyone damages or sets fire to public property during the movement, the committee will have no association with such acts.

The heightened security push comes amid mounting tensions in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, where JAAC, a coalition of political and civic groups, has announced it will lock down 10 districts if its demands are not met.

Negotiations between the government and JAAC on September 25 ended in a stalemate despite marathon talks in Muzaffarabad.

On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Engineer Amir Muqam held more than 12 hours of discussions with JAAC leaders.

The ministers later said they had accepted most of the committee’s “legitimate” demands, including on flour and electricity tariffs, but rejected calls for changes requiring constitutional amendments.

“Any demand requiring constitutional amendments can only be addressed by the Parliament,” Chaudhry said. Muqam added that Islamabad had gone as far as legally possible, accusing JAAC of introducing new conditions during the talks.

JAAC leaders say two core demands remain unmet: the abolition of reserved seats for Kashmiri refugees in the legislative assembly, which they argue are misused for political engineering, and the withdrawal of perks and privileges for the prime minister, cabinet members, and senior bureaucrats.

The group’s charter of demand also calls for equitable resource distribution, ending corruption, guaranteed electricity supply with minimum household allocations, clean drinking water, youth employment opportunities, merit-based recruitment through the public service commission, judicial and administrative reforms, and free and fair local elections.

JAAC has warned that unless its demands are implemented, it will enforce a complete shutdown from September 29.