Peace Agreement Ends Violent Protests in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir 

Pakistani authorities reached an agreement with the civil rights alliance, Awami Action Committee (AAC), over the weekend, restoring peace to Pakistan-administered Kashmir after days of violent protests that killed at least 10 people, the Associated Press reported. 

According to the deal, the regional government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, led by Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, will continue subsidizing wheat and electricity and implement more than three dozen other demands, including reducing the number of ministries and improving health, education, and other public services. 

The breakthrough arrived two days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a high-level delegation to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to hold talks with leaders of the AAC, a civil rights alliance formed to fight for local rights in the predominantly rural region. 

Last week, thousands of people led by the AAC took to the streets of Muzaffarabad, calling for an end to lucrative benefits for the political class, including free electricity and expensive cars, Agence France-Presse wrote. Police fired tear gas to contain the crowds. 

In a post on X, Pakistani Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that the regional government granted all of the demonstrators’ demands and that the protests were now over.

Similar protests had broken out in 2024, forcing the government to grant some of the protesters’ demands. However, alliance leaders said that most of the promises were not kept.  

Muslim-majority Kashmir is a disputed Himalayan territory claimed in full by both Pakistan and India. It has been divided between the two since their independence from British rule.