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On June 19 (local time), legislative assembly election candidates wait outdoors to submit their registration documents in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The Election Commission extended the deadline for candidate registration as local travel restrictions and shutdown strikes continued. / EPA Yonhap News

Pakistan-administered Kashmir has ground to a halt as at least 24 people were killed during nearly two weeks of bloody protests, Reuters reported on the 20th (local time). This comes as a shutdown strike by residents protesting the allocation of legislative seats escalated into violent clashes with authorities.

The turmoil was triggered by the upcoming regional legislative assembly elections scheduled for the 27th of next month. Backlash erupted among residents when 12 out of the total 45 seats were designated for refugees who had been displaced from Indian-administered Kashmir and settled in Pakistan. In response, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a coalition of civil society organizations, announced a shutdown strike on the 9th of this month. Tensions flared further when authorities recently banned the group's activities.

As the conflict spilled into the streets, casualties mounted rapidly. Anonymous government officials stated that at least 20 civilians were killed and dozens injured between the 6th and 14th of this month. Regional Police Chief Liaquat Ali Malik reported that four police officers were killed, 97 injured, and 515 detained during clashes with protesters.

To contain the unrest, authorities blocked major roads, suspended internet services, and restricted media access across large swathes of Kashmir. Meanwhile, thousands of JAAC supporters continue their sit-in protest, pitching tents on the outskirts of Rawalakot, located about 100 kilometers south of the regional capital, Muzaffarabad.

The blockades have dealt a heavy blow to the livelihoods of local residents. The Upper Adda area, a commercial hub in Muzaffarabad that usually bustles with grocery merchants by day and street stalls by night, has mostly fallen silent, according to Reuters. While pharmacies and a few grocery stores open for limited hours and some fruit and vegetable vendors have cautiously returned, the remaining shops stay shuttered. Banks announced the suspension of ATM and over-the-counter services due to internet and satellite outages, and gas stations closed down under government orders.

Daily wage laborers, left with no source of income, are facing deep distress. One daily wager from a remote village lamented, "I haven't earned a single penny since the 9th." A motorcycle taxi driver expressed, "Those who are well-off might endure this, but for manual laborers like us, it's nothing short of self-destruction."

The clashes between the JAAC and authorities are posing a growing dilemma for the Pakistani government. Pakistan has repeatedly criticized India's suppression of anti-government protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir, but it now finds itself facing a similar wave of anger within the territory it administers.

                                                                                                             Jeong Ri-na