Can Pakistan-administered Kashmir elections calm tensions?

Pakistan-administered Kashmir heads to the polls after weeks of deadly protests over seats reserved for displaced people from India-administered Kashmir. One local group has called for the election to be boycotted. JACC supporters have rejected the 'terror' designation, insisting their campaign seeks legitimate economic and political rights Ud Din/ The first phase of local elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir is scheduled for Monday, July 27, amid calls for a boycott from the recently outlawed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a grassroots alliance of civil society groups.

The JAAC has been demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the regional assembly reserved for people displaced from India-administered Kashmir and living in Pakistan. It argues that only residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir should be eligible to contest regional elections. The dispute escalated after the Supreme Court of Pakistan-administered Kashmir ruled that the refugee seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment.

The regional government outlawed the JAAC in June under anti-terrorism laws, citing threats to public order, and detained dozens of its supporters. The ban came amid rising tensions over the refugee seats and ahead of violent protests sparked by the group's campaign to scrap them.