Pakistan Police Clash With Protesters at Kashmir Vote
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- Joint Awami Action Committee supporters clashed with police in Mirpur on Tuesday, with at least two people dying from gunshot wounds at the district hospital, according to a district official who spoke anonymously.
- Police in Rawalakot confronted thousands of JAAC supporters attempting to march toward Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, about 20 miles from the heavily militarized de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
- The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent rights body, called for "an immediate end to this cycle of violence" and demanded an independent investigation into the reported deaths and injuries.
- The regional election began Monday in the Himalayan territory amid weeks of pre-election violence that officials say have left dozens dead, casting a shadow over the weekslong vote.
- The Joint Awami Action Committee is a banned civil rights group that claimed several supporters died in the clashes — a claim the source says could not be independently verified and that officials had not confirmed as of Tuesday.
Why it matters: An election held 20 miles from the militarized Line of Control is unfolding alongside dozens of pre-election deaths and a police crackdown on a banned protest movement, with the country's independent Human Rights Commission now publicly demanding accountability — institutional pressure that could shape how the vote concludes and how Kashmir's internal unrest is recorded.
