Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan are no longer silent. The anger that is now visible in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Gilgit and other parts of the region is not sudden. It is the result of years of political manipulation, economic neglect and repeated betrayal by Islamabad’s power structure. The Joint Awami Action Committee’s call for a mass protest and shutdown on 09 June has become more than a political event. It has become a public verdict against a system that has failed to provide even the basic necessities of life. People are not asking for privilege. They are asking for electricity, ration, affordable utilities, fair representation, employment, internet access, health care and dignity. These are not extraordinary demands. These are the minimum duties of any responsible government. Yet in PoJK and PoGB, even these basic rights have been turned into protest issues.
A Region Forced to Protest for Survival
The people of PoJK have repeatedly raised their voice against high electricity tariffs, rising food prices, unemployment and delayed subsidy packages. They were promised relief on essential commodities. They were promised reforms. They were promised engagement. But what followed was delay, pressure and broken trust. This is why the public anger is so deep. Every household now feels the burden of governance failure. Families are struggling with inflated bills. Workers are losing income. Traders are suffering due to uncertainty. Students are facing disruption. Health workers have had to protest for salary-related demands and job security. Ordinary people are being forced to fight for what should have been guaranteed without agitation. The most painful part is the contradiction between resource extraction and public deprivation. PoJK has long been associated with hydropower potential and strategic value, yet its people continue to face power cuts and inflated tariffs. When a region contributes resources but its own citizens are denied affordable electricity, the issue is no longer administrative. It becomes political. It becomes moral. It becomes a question of exploitation. The people are asking a simple question: if the region’s resources are useful to Pakistan, why are the people of the region treated as disposable?
PoGB: Darkness as Daily Punishment
The situation in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan is equally disturbing. Reports of severe load-shedding, with some areas allegedly facing 20 to 22 hours without electricity, show the depth of the crisis. This is not just an inconvenience. This is economic strangulation. When power remains unavailable for most of the day, workshops stop functioning. Small businesses collapse. Students cannot study properly. Hospitals and clinics face pressure. Daily wage earners lose income. Families are pushed deeper into poverty. For a worker, one day without electricity can mean one day without wages. For a student, it can mean another lost opportunity. For a small shopkeeper, it can mean another day of loss. For a family already struggling with inflation, it can mean the difference between survival and debt. This is why PoGB’s electricity crisis must be seen as a humanitarian and governance crisis. Darkness is not merely the absence of light. In PoGB, darkness has become the symbol of state neglect.
Fake Autonomy and Managed Democracy
For decades, Pakistan has projected PoJK as a self-governing region. But the anger on the ground exposes the weakness of that claim. People are increasingly questioning whether real authority rests with local institutions or with power centres outside the region. The dispute over the 12 reserved seats has further exposed the crisis of representation. For many people in PoJK, these seats are not seen as democratic inclusion but as political manipulation. When representation is shaped by outside calculations, democracy becomes hollow. A people cannot be called free if their political structure is controlled. A region cannot be called autonomous if major decisions are influenced from outside. A government cannot claim legitimacy if citizens have to shut markets and block roads simply to be heard. PoJK’s protest movement has therefore gone beyond electricity bills and subsidies. It has become a movement for dignity, political agency and accountability.
Broken Promises Have Broken Public Trust
The most serious damage in PoJK is not only economic. It is the collapse of public trust. People have seen negotiations before. They have heard assurances before. They have watched governments accept demands on paper and fail to implement them on the ground. This pattern has created a strong belief that talks are often used to delay, divide and weaken public mobilisation. The JAAC’s decision to continue with the 09 June protest call reflects this loss of trust. The people no longer want symbolic engagement. They want implementation. They want timelines. They want accountability. They want relief that reaches homes, markets, schools and hospitals. If a government repeatedly fails to honour its commitments, public anger becomes inevitable. If the state treats every demand as a threat, it proves that it is afraid of its own record.
The Military-Backed System Must Answer
The crisis in PoJK and PoGB cannot be separated from the larger structure of power that dominates Pakistan’s politics. The military-backed establishment has long exercised influence over sensitive regions while avoiding direct accountability for daily suffering. This is the core problem. Power is exercised from above, but responsibility is pushed downward. Decisions are controlled by distant centres, but ordinary people bear the cost. When anger rises, the same system responds with pressure, intimidation, arrests or delay tactics instead of honest reform. It has failed the worker who loses wages during load-shedding. It has failed the student who studies in darkness. It has failed the mother who struggles with ration prices. It has failed the health worker who spends holidays protesting for rights. It has failed the shopkeeper whose business is destroyed by uncertainty. It has failed the youth who sees no future in a system built on control rather than opportunity. The people of PoJK and PoGB are not asking for charity. They are demanding accountability from those who rule without responsibility.
Why 09 June Matters
The 09 June mass protest call is important because it represents accumulated anger. It is not one organisation’s issue alone. It reflects a wider public mood across PoJK and PoGB. People are tired of being ignored. They are tired of being told to wait. They are tired of promises that never reach implementation. They are tired of a system that treats basic rights as favours. They are tired of being used in political narratives while their own lives remain trapped in hardship. The protest is therefore a direct message to Islamabad: the people are no longer willing to suffer quietly. A government that respects its citizens would respond with immediate relief, transparent reforms and credible dialogue. A weak and fearful system responds with pressure and delay. The choice before Islamabad is clear.
A People’s Demand for Dignity
The anger in PoJK and PoGB must not be dismissed as routine unrest. It is a serious warning. Economic hardship, political exclusion and public humiliation have combined to create a deep legitimacy crisis. The people are demanding a life of dignity. They are demanding that promises be honoured. They are demanding that representation be real. They are demanding that electricity, ration, employment, internet and public services be treated as rights, not favours. They are demanding that those responsible for misrule be held accountable. PoJK and PoGB are not asking for darkness to be made slightly more bearable. They are asking for the system that created this darkness to be questioned. The 09 June mobilisation may become a defining moment because it brings together the central truth of the region’s struggle: people cannot be governed forever through broken promises, inflated bills, political manipulation and fear. A society denied dignity will eventually rise for it and that is exactly what PoJK and PoGB. are doing now.
