For most of its short life, the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee was known for something unglamorous: forcing governments to talk about the price of flour and electricity. In 2026, the same alliance has become the centre of the gravest political crisis in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in years. It has been banned under anti-terrorism law, blamed by authorities for violence, and credited by its supporters with giving voice to a population long ignored.
This explainer sets out who the JKJAAC (also called the JAAC) is, what it wants, how it got here, and where its critics and defenders disagree. Where accounts conflict, we say whose account it is.
Where it came from
The JKJAAC is a coalition of traders, lawyers, students, transporters and civil-society activists based in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). One reference account says it was founded on 17 September 2023. The trigger was cost of living. A founding figure told Al Jazeera in 2024 that the movement began after a wheat crisis pushed up flour prices, followed by a sharp rise in electricity rates. The complaint carried particular force because AJK generates its own hydropower. As the group saw it, locals were paying more for electricity than it cost to produce. It adopted a 30-member core committee and issued its first charter of demands in September 2023, alongside a campaign of civil disobedience that included boycotting electricity bills.
May 2024: the first big test
The alliance’s first major confrontation came in May 2024. A JKJAAC-led march toward Muzaffarabad began on 11 May, demanding subsidised flour and lower power tariffs. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a Rs23 billion package for power and wheat subsidies, but three people were shot dead and six injured in firing and tear-gas shelling by the paramilitary Rangers in Muzaffarabad on the same day. Arab News reported four deaths overall, including a police officer reportedly killed by protesters’ gunfire. The strike ended after the government met key demands, but the episode set a template. Pressure from the street won concessions, and lives were lost along the way.
The 38-point charter
The JKJAAC’s current programme took shape in 2025. According to Kashmir Times, the committee received a six-month extension until 8 June 2025 and then presented a new 38-point charter based on public consultation. The Daily Times dates its formal issue to 29 August 2025.
The charter mixes cost-of-living relief with structural reform. Published summaries include:
- Economic relief: subsidised wheat and removal of perks for the ruling elite; lower electricity tariffs; an end to what the charter calls exploitation by mobile phone companies.
- Anti-privilege measures: an end to privileges enjoyed by judges and civil servants.
- Governance: action on bribery, corruption and nepotism, empowerment of local representatives, and student union elections. One point reportedly calls for admissions to educational institutions on “open merit.”
- The refugee seats: the most politically explosive item, covered below.
Not everyone sees the charter as realistic. A Daily Times analysis called it sprawling, with many aspirational demands and few practical steps for implementation, noting that free medical and education services would need a huge fiscal outlay. Supporters counter that the charter was built from public consultation and that governments themselves have accepted much of it.
The refugee seats dispute
One demand has come to define the 2026 crisis. Twelve seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly are reserved for people who migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir. These voters live in Pakistan, not in AJK, and elect representatives to the assembly. The JKJAAC wants the seats abolished. In its view, the arrangement lets Pakistan-based political parties influence the AJK government and diverts development funds intended for the region. The group argues that all seats should go to people who actually live in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
We did not find the views of refugee-community representatives or parties that benefit from the seats in the sources reviewed for this article. We would welcome them. The dispute has legitimate arguments on more than one side, and the seats have a history rooted in the status of displaced Kashmiris.
September–October 2025: a deal, then a stall
In late September 2025 the JKJAAC called a region-wide shutdown. Authorities imposed a communications blackout. Deaths were reported, including in Muzaffarabad on 1 October. A peace agreement was reached on 4 October, with officials saying most demands had been accepted. Figures offered by officials varied. AP reporting cited authorities saying 36 of the 38 demands were accepted and two remained unresolved. The JKJAAC’s side disputed how much had really been delivered. A report carried by IANS said the deal left out key demands such as abolishing the 12 seats and curbing elite privileges. IANS is an Indian news agency, and we note that it is not a neutral party in the India–Pakistan context.
2026: collapse, ban, bloodshed
Talks collapsed in late May 2026 over the refugee seats and elite privileges. Then came the decisive step. On 5 June, AJK authorities designated the JKJAAC a proscribed organisation under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014. The AJK government justified the ban by citing reports of potential violence, acquisition of weapons, attacks on law-enforcement personnel and plans to disrupt normal life. The JKJAAC denies this and says its struggle is peaceful. Amnesty International called the designation a dangerous escalation in the crackdown.
Within days the confrontation turned lethal. Clashes in Rawalakot on 7 June between supporters and security personnel left seven dead, and a strike two days later shut cities and towns across the territory. The government’s account stresses attacks on police. AJK’s police chief accused JKJAAC activists of creating barriers and attacking goods-laden trucks, and warned against disinformation. Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar went further, saying militant elements inside the banned group pursued a “foreign agenda.” The JKJAAC rejects that and accuses security forces of using excessive force on peaceful demonstrators.
The toll depends on who is counting. AFP tallied 22 deaths from clashes since the ban, according to official figures, as of mid-July. Al Jazeera later reported, citing residents and rights groups, more than 50 killed during the protests. We know of no single verified count. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the deaths of protesters and security personnel alike.
The protest took the form of a march. The “long march” toward Muzaffarabad was halted at Rawalakot on 10 June, then repeatedly postponed during talks. According to a report from the exile-based Kashmir Times, it resumed on election day, 27 July, with a rights group alleging unprovoked firing, three deaths and scores injured, though casualty figures were unverified amid a communications blackout. We could not confirm those figures independently.
The elections and what followed
Voting for the legislative assembly was staged in phases between 27 July and 10 August. The JKJAAC called a boycott. Dawn noted that the group is not a registered political party and was not contesting, but that its charter had attracted a large segment of the population, particularly young people, even as part of its leadership took what the paper called an extremist posture. That double-edged judgement captures how contested the movement’s character remains.
After the vote, the PML-N emerged as the largest party, helped by eight seats for refugees in Punjab, and lawyer Iftikhar Gillani was chosen as AJK’s new prime minister through a reserved technocrat seat after losing in his own constituency. The same Dawn editorial warned that the legitimacy of the elections had been questioned even by mainstream parties such as the PPP. Meanwhile, authorities have barred international media from reporting from the region, which limits independent verification of almost everything above.
The confrontation is still live. On 28–29 October, police in Rawalakot said armed members of the banned group were behind the abduction of a district judge and shooting near a hospital. These are police allegations that we have not been able to verify.
Why it matters
Three questions sit beneath the headlines.
Representation. The refugee-seat dispute asks who should speak for AJK’s residents. It also touches on how Islamabad governs a territory it describes as separate from Pakistan constitutionally.
Dissent and security law. Pakistan’s government frequently criticises how India handles dissent in Indian-administered Kashmir. Using anti-terrorism law against a domestic protest movement is a problem for that argument, a point made in regional reporting this summer.
Economic grievance. Underneath the political fight is the same complaint that started it: high prices in a territory that produces its own power. The 2024 package and the 2025 deal both suggest the government can concede on money. The fight over seats and privileges is harder to settle.
What we don’t know
There is no verified death toll. The full text of the charter and the status of each demand are disputed. The JKJAAC’s claims and the government’s counter-claims about violence cannot be independently checked while foreign reporters are barred. And no one has yet explained how a banned movement and a newly elected government will talk to each other.
The Azadi Times invites responses from the JKJAAC, the AJK government and refugee-community representatives. We will update this piece as verified information arrives.