Pakistan-administered Kashmir Bans Protest Group and Arrests Dozens of Supporters

Police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir arrested dozens of supporters of the Joint Awami Action Committee on Saturday, officials and witnesses said. The detentions followed a Friday ban on the group issued by the regional government in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Himalayan territory.

The regional government cited concerns over public order and security when it outlawed the Joint Awami Action Committee.

The ban came after weeks of tensions between authorities and the group over a 38-point charter of demands that included calls for subsidized wheat and electricity. Authorities said 36 of the 38 demands were accepted last year following negotiations that involved JAAC representatives, regional officials and Pakistan’s federal government.

Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has said both before and after the ban that he remains willing to meet JAAC representatives to discuss the two remaining demands.

One of the unresolved issues concerns 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees in the legislative assembly, Rathore said. The Joint Awami Action Committee refused to call off a protest march planned for Tuesday and insisted on all its demands, according to the regional government.

Authorities increased security ahead of the planned protest across the region, which is divided between Pakistan and India and claimed in its entirety by both countries.

The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Last year, clashes between the Kashmiri group’s supporters and security forces killed several people, including police officers. On Saturday, the Joint Awami Action Committee claimed that two of its members were wounded when police opened fire.