Unrest and discontent: The economic struggles of Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir

Pakistan’s deteriorating economic condition had a cascading effect on Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) as well. Pakistan has experienced massive rallies and demonstrations in its major cities, against the escalating costs of essential goods, fuel and electricity and POJK is no exception. The demonstrations in POJK are manifestations of discontent against the policies of both de facto and the de jure rulers of POJK. In August 2023, thousands of protestors in the Poonch district of POK, specifically in Rawalakot city, made headlines by burning their electricity bills. Notably, an ongoing protest sit-in, initiated in May 2023, challenges the high-power tariffs, demanding the repeal of the order that significantly raised these tariffs, referred to as “cruel taxes” by locals. The legal community, led by Bar Councils, after burning over 2,000 power bills on various court premises, has termed this agitation a “civil disobedience movement.” Prominent trade union leader Umar Nazir, who is leading the protests, emphasised to local media that burning electricity bills symbolizes resistance against both POJK and Pakistan’s federal governments. He declared, “By setting the electricity bills on fire, we have ignited a relentless struggle against a system that primarily serves the ruling elite.” Similarly, protests gained momentum across POJK in September 2023, culminating in a region-wide shutter-down and “chakka jam” against soaring inflation and electricity prices. Local public action committees, comprising business leaders, lawyers, transporters, and civil society representatives from various parts of the region, including Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Mirpur, and Bagh, spearhead this movement. Both the POJK and Pakistan’s federal governments have continued to remain unresponsive. This widespread dissent against the Pakistani government’s failure to provide relief to the people has become a norm in the region, characterized by the exploitation of its natural resources while the local community grapples with poverty. Since Pakistan’s occupation in October 1947, the region has suffered neglect and a lack of attention from the Pakistani state and its rulers. Despite the region’s abundant natural resources, particularly hydropower, capable of generating nearly 10,000 megawatts of electricity, POJK remains underserved. Existing hydropower projects like Mangla Dam and Neelum/ Jhelum stations generate over 2,300 megawatts of power, which is predominantly transmitted to other Pakistani provinces, especially Punjab. The irony lies in the fact that despite this surplus power generation, POJK faces significant power shortages, with its peak demand not exceeding a mere 400 megawatts at any point in the year. Sardar Iftikhar Feroz, President of All Azad Kashmir Anjuman-i-Tajran, rightly contends that while the territory generates thousands of megawatts of electricity, its own minimal requirement of 400 Megawatts remains unmet. “Ironically, not only we are being made to pay cruel taxes but we also face merciless power outages of longer durations. These issues demand a collective and tough stance from all walks of life and we will take the lead role in this regard,” Sardar Feroze laments. Interestingly, this situation of POJK residents is in stark contrast with their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir in India, where an era of development is underway. It appears that Pakistan has systematically ensured the region remained vastly underdeveloped with rampant poverty, near absence of basic infrastructure, and non-availability of basic services, among other things. A basic comparison between POJK and J&K underscores stark differences in socioeconomic indicators, with J&K excelling in nearly all aspects of life. In terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), as of 2021-22, J&K stands at $22 billion whereas that of POK was measured at $6.5 billion. The Pakistan-occupied region grapples with rampant poverty with a quarter of the population living below the poverty line and a significant majority barely making ends meet. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates, 24.9 per cent of the population in POJK are multidimensionally poor excluding Gilgit-Baltistan where the figure is even higher at 43 per cent. A region’s development is dependent on its infrastructure, especially connectivity. As such, J&K has nearly 10 times more length of national highway penetration at 2423 kilometres against POK’s mere 262 kilometres. Interestingly, while J&K has close to 356 kilometres of rail track length with the capital Srinagar gearing up to join the national rail network in coming months with the world’s highest train bridge over Chenab River ready for operation, POJK is yet to see any railway penetration in the region. Consequently, the Pakistan-controlled region lags significantly behind J&K in terms of industrial development, which has a thriving network of industrial units across its cities and towns, despite setbacks caused by Pakistan-sponsored extremism since the late 1980s. POK’s industrial presence is limited to cottage industry units, such as carpet weaving, papier-mâché, wood carving, Gabba-Sazi and Namda-Sazi. In terms of health infrastructure, POJK has a mere 589 healthcare facilities, including 23 hospitals at the district and tehsil levels, 50 rural health centers, 225 basic health units, 79 dispensaries, and 201 mother and childcare centres. With a total of 2,790 hospital beds (1 bed for every 1,523 people), these facilities are managed by just 1,066 doctors. In contrast, J&K has established an extensive network of 3,834 healthcare facilities, including 20 district hospitals and 84 sub-district hospitals, with nearly 14,000 hospital beds and close to 16,000 registered doctors. In agriculture, Jammu and Kashmir significantly outperforms POK, producing substantial quantities of rice, maize, and wheat. It has a flourishing horticulture sector, primarily driven by apples, which alone generates $1.25 billion in earnings. Approximately 3.5 million people in J&K are directly or indirectly associated with this sector. In contrast, as emphasised by its Directorate General of Agriculture, POJK’s agriculture has stagnated, and it remains heavily reliant on the market due to a lack of modern technological interventions. This has kept POJK overly dependent on the market as its farms, on account of lack of modern technological interventions, even failing to provide basic subsistence to the people. These disparities persist across various economic sectors, highlighting the region’s inadequate infrastructure, minimal industrial development, pervasive poverty, and high unemployment rates. Therefore, the deteriorating economic situation in Pakistan disproportionately affects a large section of the POJK population, leaving them to fend for themselves. It should not be lost that this population could not even afford basic essentials of life when Pakistan fared comparatively better economically a few years earlier and hence their present situation can only be imagined. The people of POJK are much worse off than any other part of Pakistan. To conclude, it is a travesty for the people of POJK whose fate has been tied with that of Pakistan, following its illegal occupation in 1947, whereas their compatriots a few miles away enjoy the fruits of extensive development and better standards of living. The people of POJK need to continue pressurising the exploitative system of Pakistan. POJK has been suffering a new form of colonialism where Pakistan’s federal government and security establishment has been exploiting the local resources at the cost of local development. The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. He tweets @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.