Eight Killed in Protests in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir

Pakistani officials said on Thursday that at least eight people have been killed during four days of violent protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee of senior officials to address the ongoing unrest.

Details about the full scale of the demonstrations remain limited. The protests began Monday in the regional capital, Muzaffarabad, after thousands of people gathered from nearby towns. Since then, authorities have cut off phone and internet services in the area, which has long been divided and disputed between Pakistan and India since their independence in 1947.

Images from Muzaffarabad showed riot police firing tear gas on a bridge on Wednesday.

Businesses, Schools, Transport Shut Since Monday
Two security officials in Islamabad told Reuters that so far, three police officers and five civilians have been killed. They said clashes between protesters and police have continued without pause since the demonstrations erupted.

Officials and local television reports said that businesses, schools, and transport services have been shut down across much of the region for the past four days.

Sharif’s office issued a statement announcing the formation of a political committee to investigate the violence and urging protesters to enter into dialogue.

“The government is always ready to resolve the problems of our Kashmiri brothers,” Sharif said.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, a member of the committee, expressed confidence that “all issues can be resolved through dialogue.”

Protests Against Privileges and Entitlements
Shaukat Nawaz Mir, who heads a coalition of Kashmiri civil rights groups, said before the protests that the demonstrations were aimed at challenging the privileges enjoyed by local politicians, bureaucrats, and other senior officials.

“When we say we need medicines in hospitals, they (the authorities) tell us there’s no money,” Mir told the YouTube news channel The Kashmir Link. “But they do have money to maintain their lavish lifestyles.”

Another major grievance is the reserved seats in the local Kashmir legislature for representatives from other parts of Pakistan, which activists say have been used to form or topple regional governments.

Similar protests last year left four people dead, after which Sharif approved a 24-billion-rupee ($86 million) relief package to meet most of the demonstrators’ demands, including subsidies on flour and electricity.