Protest and Power Struggles: AJK's Battle Against High Electricity Bills and Inflation

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) witnessed a total closure on Tuesday, with urban communities like Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Mirpur, and Kotli at the front of dissent mobilizes and protests. The demonstrators were communicating their disappointment with extreme power bills and taking off expansion.

Significant business sectors and towns across AJK were shut for the afternoon, and the roads stayed absent any trace of any vehicular movement, especially in Kotli, Mirpur, and Poonch regions.

During the fights and protests, occupants raised their voices against the public authority and the Power Division, promising to endure until their requests were met.

The strike was coordinated by the Awami Activity Council and had a far-reaching influence, with different associations, including merchants' affiliations, carriers, and legal counselors, effectively partaking in the strikes and fights. The strike and rallies garnered attention on social media platforms, with users sharing videos and updates. One user posted a video clip of a protest rally in Khuiratta, Kotli district, highlighting the grievances related to additional taxes in public procurement and electricity bills.

Another user shared a video from Bagh district, where residents marched through the streets, chanting anti-government slogans. The protest in Bagh centered around the restoration of subsidies on electricity, flour, and other taxes.

In Poonch, residents protested against the rising prices of flour and electricity.

This strike followed a previous shade-down strike facilitated by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and different trade connections on September 2, which saw the assistance of lawful guides. This earlier strike, set off by extension, high power charges, and extended oil costs, provoked the closure of business focuses and business centers in huge metropolitan regions of the country, including Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar.

The tumult in the country has been ascending, with occupants, regardless, contingent upon consuming their power bills in a battle. In July, the Public Electric Power Administrative Power (Nepra) declared a critical expansion in the public normal duty for the financial year 2023–24, which further exacerbated the complaints of individuals. This was followed by an extra expansion in the public base power levy by the past government in August.