On 13 December 2023, Law Minister Mian Abdul Waheed submitted a new bill, ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir Defamation Act 2021’, in the legislative assembly of Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK). Once passed and turned into an act, any journalist found guilty of criticising PoJK government policies, officials, departments, or institutions on social media platforms or in press will be punishable with at least two years’ imprisonment and fine. Courts will be bound by this Act to come up with a verdict in no more than 90 days.
Mediapersons in the press gallery walked out and observed a sit-in at the steps of the legislative assembly. By the end of the day, it was announced that black flags will be hoisted on press clubs all over PoJK and journalists will wear black arm-bands. As I write these lines, an emergency meeting of press and mediapersons is being held to discuss how to conduct a fight back against the fresh attack on the media. Protest marches will have already been taken out by the time this article is published. The ‘AJK Defamation Act 2021’ is an attempt by the sitting government to shut off dissent and criticism of its handling of the ongoing social, economic, and political crisis.
With every passing day the social, economic, and political crisis gets dire in PoJK. The power crisis in PoJK has led to long hours of load shedding. Cuts in subsidies of wheat and essential goods have created a severe shortage of flour and an increase in taxes on electricity bills have skyrocketed.
Political crisis has deepened as the PoJK government has come into direct confrontation with the Jammu Kashmir Joint Action Committee (JKJAAC) over the latter’s civil disobedience campaign. JKJAAC has been running the boycott electricity bill campaign for nearly seven months now which has resulted in a loss of more than Rs 3 billion to the PoJK government in revenue.
Pakistan buys electricity produced in Mangla Dam and other hydropower stations across PoJK at a rate of just under Rs 3 per unit and then sells it back to PoJK at the rate of Rs 53 per unit. The total electricity production in PoJK is around 5,000 megawatts. PoJK needs only 400 megawatts to cover its needs and it was expected that once the Mangla dam would be ready (1963) PoJK will be given 300 megawatts of electricity free. Therefore, the people of PoJK are furious at the additional taxes introduced this year to pay for Pakistan’s economic miseries.
It is in this backdrop that a boycott electricity bill civil disobedience campaign was launched. Protests have been held on a daily basis for almost seven months with at least three general strikes in which all sections of societies of PoJK have participated. Transporters, traders, students, and women have been observing ‘day of protest’ on more than one occasion. All the while the PoJK dailies have been scrupulously reporting on events related to the suffering of the population living under the occupation of Pakistan since October 1947.
On many occasions the Press and information Department (PID) in Islamabad has summoned editors of dailies to warn them of stepping out of line with the general policy of subjugation, many have been physically beaten up in the PID lobby and advertisement dues have been withheld. The ‘Defamation Act 2021’ is a direct attack on the freedom of speech executed by the daily press. In days and weeks to come, the journalist community in PoJK will be fully justified to join hands with the JKJAAC and broaden the scope of the civil disobedience movement to include demands such as freedom of press and much more.
Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a broadcaster from Mirpur. He currently lives in exile in the UK. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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