By Tariq Maqbool
MUZAFFARABAD, June 9 (Reuters) – Cities and towns across Pakistan-administered Kashmir were brought to a standstill on Tuesday after protesters clashed with security forces ahead of a general strike called by a recently banned alliance of civil society groups.
Streets in the capital Muzaffarabad and elsewhere were deserted with only police vehicles visible for much of the day.
At least 11 people were killed on Sunday night in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Rawalakot, prompting a sweeping crackdown by authorities.
The regional government has since ordered sedition cases to be registered against four prominent leaders of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee, according to a notification seen by Reuters. It has also announced a 10 million rupee ($35,951) bounty for their arrest, after banning the group on Friday.
The JAAC had called for a region-wide strike to protest the reservation of 12 seats for refugees in the July 27 elections to Kashmir’s legislative assembly. Those seats are contested by candidates who do not live in Kashmir but elsewhere in Pakistan.
“Muzaffarabad — the largest capital city of Azad Kashmir, with a population of 550,000 — is completely deserted and utterly lifeless,” resident Zahid Amin said.
“Every shop, every market, every lane, every street, and every bazaar is completely shut.”
Amnesty International said in a statement that the “violent and sweeping crackdown on protests in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir – including an internet shutdown, mass arbitrary arrests, and deadly use of force – continues an alarming deterioration of human rights in the region.”
Pakistan’s interior ministry and Kashmiri government authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
“Talk like brothers,” said Muzaffarabad resident Mohammad Aziz. “Bring senior people from Pakistan and have them talk with these people. These people are not against Pakistan. They are just asking for their own rights.”
The Himalayan Kashmir region has been divided between Pakistan and neighbouring arch-rival India as a disputed territory since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947.
Previous mass demonstrations in the last two years led by the JAAC to protest the rising costs of flour and electricity turned deadly after clashes between its supporters and the security forces.
($1 = 278.1500 Pakistani rupees)
(Reporting by Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad; Writing by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Gareth Jones)
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