People of PoK are culturally closer to Dogras, Punjabis

Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), which is a part of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is 13,297 square kilometers in area and is divided into Muzaffarabad and Mirpur divisions. Political map of India also mentions Muzaffarabad and Mirpur as two districts of J&K. However, `authorities’ illegally controlling PoK since 1947, have further subdivided the region into eight administrative districts. These include Muzaffarabad, Neelum, Bagh, Poonch, and Sudhnutti districts of Muzaffarabad division and Mirpur, Kotli, and Bhimber districts of Mirpur district.

Muzaffarabad city is the `territory’s capital’. The population density is 246 persons per square kilometer, while as the literacy rate 60 percent which is higher than in Pakistan.

 People of PoK are almost entirely Muslim. However, Islam or its sects are not the principal arbiters of identity in the region. The people comprise not only diverse tribal clans (biradari) but are culturally and linguistically markedly different from the Kashmiris of the central valley of Jammu and Kashmir. Cultural practice in PoK has more in common with Dogras and Punjabis than with the Kashmir valley.

Gujjaras, Mirpuri Jats, Rajputs of PoK

The illegally occupied territory is far from ethnically homogenous. The biradari is the overriding determinant of identity and power relationships within the socio-political landscape.  While the Gujjars, numbering close to eight hundred thousand, are possibly the largest such group, historically the two most influential biradaris have been the Sudhans from the southeast (concentrated in Bagh district and Rawalakot subdivision of Poonch district) and the Rajputs who are spread out across the territory. Sudhans and Rajputs number, respectively, a little over and a little under half a million.  Almost all of PoK’a politicians and leaders come from one of these two groups.

 PoK is also home to approximately three hundred thousand Mirpuri Jats hailing from the southern part of the territory. Though the Mirpuris are the closest geographical and cultural relatives of the Potohari Punjabis, in recent decades they have chosen to define themselves increasingly as Kashmiris. Mirpuris have migrated to the United Kingdom (U.K.) in large numbers and constitute the overwhelming “Kashmiri presence” in that country. There are also a number of other small tribes and sub-tribes.

PoK has its own `Supreme Court’

Pakistan occupied Kashmir  has a `parliamentary form of government’. The `president’ of PoK is the `constitutional’ head of the state, while the `Prime Minister’, supported by a `council of Minister’s, is the `chief executive’. PoK  has its own self-styled  `Supreme Court, High Court, and Legislative Assembly’ comprising forty-nine members, of whom forty-one are directly elected and eight are indirectly elected—the latter comprise a member each from the technocrats, scholars, and overseas Kashmiris, and five women. Under the current constitutional dispensation, twelve of the forty-eight seats in the Legislative Assembly are reserved for `Kashmiri refugees’ settled across Pakistan. Union Territory of J&K, has on the other hand, kept 24 Assembly seats reserved for people of PoK. The areas  also has a multi-tiered system of local governance. All key administrative offices are, however,  manned by Pakistani officials.

Economic exploitation of PoK

Like other parts of J&K, PoK is also rich with scenic beauty and natural resources.  It has many rivers, lakes and streams flowing through it. But this water has been a continuing source of political tension between Kashmiris and Pakistan. The Mangla Dam project, which affects the waters of the Jhelum and Poonch rivers before they flow into Punjab in Pakistan, is a matter of concern as residents of PoK feel that Pakistan has been economically exploiting them.