An in-depth journalistic analysis of the 'Indian Agent' label on the peaceful demands of the Public Action Committee, the escape from the approved decisions of 2025 and the serious administrative incompetence of the 78-year-old failed political setup. A documentary analysis of the oppressed people on the streets without an alternative plan, the storm of fake news in the shadow of the communication blackout and the irreparable diplomatic damage caused to Pakistan's historical Kashmir narrative.
The recent administrative and political crisis emerging between the Azad Kashmir government and the people is not just a regional law-and-order issue, but it is the culmination of the governance failure and serious political mistake of the security narrative prevalent for the past quarter of a century.
To understand the nature of this wave, it is necessary to remove the traditional political lens, because the Awami Action Committee is not a formally registered political party, ideological faction or military network, but rather an informal, popular and democratic alliance established at the level of every district, tehsil, village, street and neighborhood, which has deep roots in local communities. Without exaggeration, if objective facts are examined, approximately 90 percent of the population of the region is supporting the demands of this protest wave in some form or another. This movement does not seek any external agenda or state change, but its demands are purely within the economic and constitutional framework, which include fair relief in electricity tariffs, proper use of the public welfare budget and the end of unnecessary privileges of the elite. But on the contrary, instead of facing this formidable public wave with political prudence, the Azad Kashmir government hastily declared the entire movement a totalitarian state under the Anti-Terrorism Act, labeling a large section of the population as "foreign or Indian-backed agents." This move is not only politically immature, but it has also paved the way for Pakistan's long-standing Kashmir stance internationally to suffer irreparable diplomatic damage.
During this serious humanitarian and political crisis, the ground realities worsened when, according to reports, internet and communication links were suddenly cut off at 11 pm, and exactly forty-five minutes later, at 11:15 pm, a firing incident took place on Core Committee member Umar Nazir and his convoy, in which a civilian named Shahzaib was killed and several others were injured. Since there was a communication blackout, no independent and impartial verification of who fired the shot was possible. At the local level, both the security forces and the police are being blamed, but the facts remain unclear.
The next day, the police, through a press release, claimed to have arrested 72 people who were charged with serious offences. This was followed by reports of shelling during funeral gatherings and late-night crackdowns. There are reports of several deaths and injuries in these clashes, which cannot be confirmed due to the internet shutdown, and they allegedly include local police and law enforcement officials. While the internet shutdown has prevented access to accurate information on the one hand, it has also created a dangerous vacuum in the digital world, which has been exploited by numerous fake IDs and unverified social media pages to spread misleading and inflammatory propaganda. On the one hand, an attempt is being made to bring the youth before the state through anti-state content, while on the other hand, by collectively calling 90 percent of the Kashmiri people "traitors and Indian agents, their patriotism and historical sacrifices are being insulted, which has deepened the gulf of hatred.
One of the most important aspects of this entire scenario is that the People's Action Committee has been completely peaceful from day one, and it has never opened or paved the way for conflict. It is very important to clarify here that the committee did not provide the government with any justification for the use of force, but in fact, the Azad Kashmir government completely failed to satisfy the people and the Action Committee at the negotiating table.
Out of the 38 demands that are repeatedly claimed to be approved by the ruling circles, all those demands were accepted in January 2025 itself, but the government was completely unable to implement them. The people were given lollipops in the name of mere notifications and no relief was provided on the ground. However, in view of this massive public outcry, from an analytical perspective, the core members, who are ordinary citizens and not traditional political leaders, clearly lacked any concrete alternative strategy during this historic protest. The simple fact is that if the government flatly refuses to listen, then in that case, what safe, positive and peaceful alternative course of action should be taken next, they did not have any such pre-planned plan. Whenever the intelligent circles asked them about the arguments, concrete alternatives at the negotiating table and long-term constitutional paths, silence was witnessed from the leadership, while their activists relied on slogans like "Band means Bandh" and mere emotional statements, due to which the entire thrust of the movement was confined to the streets without any clear alternative strategy, although the attitude of the people remained peaceful at every stage.
The real and ultimate responsibility for this bloodshed and crisis lies with the 78-year-old failed political setup that has turned this region into a base camp for its own personal luxuries and privileges, rather than a base camp for the freedom movement. It had built a stronghold, and now it has declared its bastion of luxury as a bastion of Indian agents and traitors. Since the last quarter of a century, every succeeding Azad Kashmir government has received vast funds of billions of rupees from the Pakistani government in development and administrative areas, but these resources have never been diverted towards the welfare of the common man, hospitals, educational institutions or the provision of cheap electricity; rather this capital was divided politically and squandered on the lavish privileges of the bureaucracy and ministers. When the same downtrodden people demanded an account of their legitimate taxes and rights, these luxurious political appointees, in order to hide their incompetence, brought the state and the people face to face by declaring the entire population as "Indian agents."
What greater political cowardice could there be than this, that as soon as public pressure increased, the Prime Minister, President and Assembly members left the capital and went to the safe haven of Islamabad. Their ancestors had signed the resolutions and articles of accession to Pakistan, these same people have been their voters and supporters, but what strategy did these rulers adopt that today their own voters are standing on the streets against them? The answer to this is nothing but the corruption and incompetence of these rulers. This ignorant decision to declare the Public Action Committee at the state level null and void and to call the people foreign agents is actually an unintentional endorsement of New Delhi's long-standing position, in which it has always propagated that the people of Pakistan-administered Kashmir are not satisfied with the current system.
When the Azad Kashmir government itself puts its written seal that the majority of the region is involved in anti-state activities, then Pakistan's 78-year-old diplomatic and moral narrative weakens before international forums, the United Nations and human rights organizations. The world will now be right to ask the question that if 90% of the population of the base camp is apostate, then on what basis is the political case of this region based? This one stupid administrative decision has caused the damage to Pakistan's foreign policy and national reputation that India could not even do with decades of propaganda machinery. In this situation, the security agencies cannot be blamed, because they always take action to establish law and order under the legal orders and policy framework of the administration and the government. The real fault lies with the political elite who themselves flee and use the forces as a shield in front of the people.
It is time for the government of Pakistan to see this crisis as a major threat to national security and foreign policy instead of traditional law and order. First of all, a constitutional alternative should be considered for these 12 reserved seats in the name of refugees, which usually become undemocratic crutches for political parties to so-called loot and form a government. Now these outdated crutches must end. Moreover, it is not in the national interest to tolerate the current inefficient and corrupt political setup, which has squandered resources for 78 years and finally turned the people into traitors and fled.
This outdated setup should be wrapped up by immediately imposing a constitutional emergency in the region and a transparent, accountable and people-friendly interim governance model should be created that focuses directly on public relief.
The government of Pakistan should hold all these previous rulers accountable for the budget of the past century for why they brought the region to this path. The politics of hatred, communication blackout and oppression cannot work any more; the people of Kashmir deserve a reasonable, sustainable and dignified permanent solution, and this solution is possible only through tough reforms and good governance.
Written by: Malik Sarfaraz Hussain Awan (Investigative Journalist / Humanitarian / Social Guardian)
