August 5, 2026
Today Pakistan marks seven years since India stripped Kashmir of its special status. It marks it in the middle of an election, in the part of Kashmir it administers, where the seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees are the reason a civil rights movement was banned. Aflatoon on holding both facts at once.
August 3, 2026
Unofficial results give the PML-N 13 of the 18 constituencies declared in the second phase of the Azad Kashmir election and the PPP five. Polling was held in 19 of 21 constituencies after LA-27 was postponed for weather. The PPP has rejected the process, calling the mandate fake.
August 2, 2026
Polling has begun in 21 constituencies in the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir election — nine in Muzaffarabad division and all twelve refugee seats. A total of 207 candidates are contesting the divisional seats and 137 the refugee constituencies, the latter split evenly between Valley and Jammu refugees.
August 1, 2026
Federal minister Bilal Azhar Kayani has said the PML-N stands firmly behind the right of Kashmiri refugees to their reserved seats, campaigning on the final day before Sunday's second phase of the Azad Kashmir election. Muzaffarabad division and the twelve refugee constituencies vote on August 2.
July 24, 2026
Azad Jammu and Kashmir goes to the polls on July 27 for Phase 1 in Mirpur division, but the election arrives under extraordinary strain: approximately 30 people have died in pre-election unrest since June, the Joint Awami Action Committee has been banned under anti-terrorism law and its leader jailed, PTI is boycotting, and internet shutdowns continue across the territory. PPP's Bilawal Bhutto holds his final Muzaffarabad jalsa today. Whether a credible mandate can emerge from this environment is the central question before the first ballot is cast.
July 22, 2026
The AJK Election Commission has announced a three-phase election schedule with the 12 disputed refugee seats formally calendared for August 2. JAAC demanded these seats be abolished. The government's answer was not a political response — it was an administrative one. The calendar itself has become the constitution. By the time the ballots are printed, the argument is settled by scheduling.
July 22, 2026
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission announced a revised three-phase election schedule for the 2026 AJK Legislative Assembly polls, replacing the original single-date July 27 plan. Phase 1 covers Mirpur division on July 27; Phase 2 covers Muzaffarabad division and the 12 disputed refugee seats on August 2; Phase 3 covers Poonch division on August 10. The phased schedule was prompted by security requirements and the need to stagger army deployment across divisions. Critically, the 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — the central demand of the JAAC's protest campaign — are now formally scheduled for August 2, embedded in the electoral calendar rather than addressed by political negotiation.
July 14, 2026
Protest leaders affiliated with the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee have warned they will march on the Azad Kashmir capital Muzaffarabad on July 15 if the government fails to meet their demands. JAAC leaders have also said that after July 14 their demands would expand beyond the existing Charter of Demands. The warning comes 13 days before the July 27 AJK Legislative Assembly election, with JAAC actively blockading roads in multiple districts and one person killed in clashes in Poonch on July 12.
Editor — Hamza Azhar Salam · Write to us with suggestions or tips
October 26, 2026
The Pakistan Daily
October 26, 2026
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