Washington, Aug 2 (IANS) The recent killings in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are not an isolated collapse of Pakistan's authority but instead reflect the functioning of a political system that survives by denying people in the occupied region meaningful control over their political and economic future, said an international daily said in its analysis.

The report, published by the US-based Jacobin, argues that although the parts of Kashmir under Pakistan's occupation are officially projected as politically autonomous and not formally integrated into the Pakistani state, the promised autonomy has "long been a sham", as Islamabad responds to public demands for genuine democracy through repression and coercive measures.

"In practice, the ongoing dispute involves election manipulation, especially through so-called reserve seats. Islamabad rigs and manipulates elections to install a puppet government in PoK," the report stated.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is currently witnessing the most extensive confrontation between the local population and the Pakistani state in decades. The protests reportedly began on June 5 and have continued to intensify.

An internet shutdown has remained in force across the occupied territory since June 5, with cellular communication services also suspended.

Protesters have alleged that as unrest spread across the occupied territory, Pakistani security forces launched a severe crackdown in which more than 50 people have been killed and hundreds injured over the past several weeks. They also claim that the actual death toll could be significantly higher than officially reported.

The report further states that while the immediate trigger for the protests was the worsening economic situation marked by rising electricity tariffs, soaring fuel prices, inflation and declining living standards, the unrest is rooted in deeper structural grievances.

According to the report, these economic hardships reflect a governance model in which residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir bear the consequences of decisions over which they exercise little or no democratic control.

According to the report, although the administration in the occupied territory appears local in structure, "it governs through institutions whose ultimate authority lies elsewhere" -- Islamabad.

"Economic exploitation and political subordination, therefore, reinforce one another. The extraction of resources, the imposition of austerity, and the transfer of decision-making power to Islamabad are not separate processes but different expressions of the same structure of domination," the report read.

"The Pakistani ruling class is not merely defending a particular government or protecting a single administrative institution. It is defending an entire structure of domination whose stability depends upon preventing the people of Jammu Kashmir from exercising effective control over their political and economic future," it further argued.

Meanwhile, the failure of local authorities in PoK, operating under the direction of Pakistan's federal government and military, to address the core demands of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has fueled mounting public discontent.

The crackdown on civilians by Pakistani security forces in PoK has exposed the contradiction in Islamabad's longstanding narrative of safeguarding the interests of Kashmiri Muslims.

Despite projecting itself as a champion of the Kashmiri cause, Pakistani forces have killed several civilians in the occupied territory amid escalating unrest in the region.

--IANS

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