Amid stiff opposition from the people, the Pakistan government withdrew the 15th Constitutional Amendment bill to the Interim Constitution of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), thus failing in its 24th attempt to provide provincial status to PoK.
The introduction of the bill led to massive protests and public meetings in all the ten districts of the Pakistan-occupied region Protestors strongly objected to the Pakistan government’s plan to bring in the 15th amendment to fix the constitutional status of the region, reported Asian Lite International. The protests against the 15th Amendment and oppressive taxes spread like wildfire across the area, calling the amendment a conspiracy to dilute the identity of PoK.
All those who oppose the government in PoK are labelled as traitors or agents and then put through a series of torture, humiliation, or jail. The bill envisaged the establishment of a separate election commission for local bodies (LB), which was tabled by the government on 13 August, 2022, with the backing of the Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
While the AJK Assembly remained undecided, the people of the territory illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1947 protested vociferously against the attempt by Islamabad to take away their rights.