Aqeeb Shahid

Every few years, a small number of seats spark a big fight in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and that number is 12. These are the 12 seats kept aside in the AJK Legislative Assembly for Kashmiri refugees, people who left Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir during the wars of 1947 and 1965 and settled in cities across Pakistan.

Where These Seats Came From

This system did not start in 1974. It goes back to laws made in 1960, 1964 and 1970. But the AJK Interim Constitution of 1974 gave it a proper legal place under Article 22. Six of the 12 seats are reserved for refugees from the Jammu division, and six for refugees from the Kashmir Valley. In a 53-member assembly, that is a lot of power held by people who do not even live in AJK. They live in Pakistan and vote as Kashmiri refugees.

Why Locals Are Protesting

Now, the main problem is why these seats affect the people of Kashmir so much. These seats are for displaced people, and they were first used in the 1974 interim election. Locals in Kashmir have protested these 12 seats for more than a decade, and the numbers explain why.

Also read: Elections, JAAC, and the Reserved Seats Conundrum in Azad Kashmir

According to the 2017 census, Kashmir's total population is about 4 million. Registered voters for the Kashmir legislative assembly number nearly 3.8 million. Of these, registered voters who are actual Kashmiri locals number 3.3 million, making up 88.5 per cent of total voters, and they decide only 33 of the 45 assembly seats. Registered refugee voters number about 0.4 million, or just 11.5 per cent of voters, but they decide 12 seats.

So, it is very unfair that the balance is not equal between these seats. On average, it takes 17,000 to 45,000 votes to decide who wins a seat in Kashmir, depending on the polling station's population. On the other hand, very few votes, sometimes even 100 to 500, can decide who wins a refugee seat. But the ministries that hold real power often go to them, and most importantly, these 12 seats can decide which government forms, causing serious tension among political parties.

What Kashmiri People Are Demanding

Kashmiri people are protesting against this unfair distribution of seats because the main departments responsible for Kashmir are often held by people who do not even belong to that place. If someone does not belong there, how can they really contribute to its betterment? Locals are demanding that these seats be abolished and given to the people who actually live in Kashmir.

Also read: Voter Turnout during the First Phase of Elections in Azad Kashmir

If we look at this with plain facts, even a student can understand what they are demanding, because logically, representation of a place should always go to the people who belong to it now, not to those who were once a part of it. Abolishing these seats would let Kashmiri people decide what is better for them and how they can improve it. Any politician can say they stand with Kashmir, but that changes the moment it is their own turn to act against their own interest instead of for it.

Conclusion

There are two sides to this. One is for the refugees, who were displaced for different reasons, and these seats are like a tribute that says they still belong to Kashmir. The other is for the locals, who believe that democracy should be represented by the people who actually live there.

Residents have the right to decide what belongs to them, and giving them that right is better than giving it to people who live elsewhere. Refugees should still have a proper right to be represented, but such a large number of seats decided by so few votes will always cause fights, and this issue will not be solved that way. The seats need to be brought closer to the number of people they actually represent, not removed out of anger, and not left the same out of habit, but changed through a fair process.

As long as the bigger Kashmir issue remains unresolved, a small number like 12 will keep carrying significant political weight.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of The Himalayan Research Institute Pakistan (THRIP)

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Aqeeb Shahid is a student of international relations at the International Institute for Regional & International Studies (IIRIS), The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan