In Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), a new wave of unrest has erupted—this time driven by students and young people, signalling a widening generational revolt against the Shehbaz Sharif-led government. What began as a peaceful demonstration over education-related grievances, including rising university fees and a controversial digital marking system, has rapidly escalated into wider anti-government protests, exposing the growing frustration among POK’s Gen Z population.
The demonstrations, which began earlier this month at a major university in Muzaffarabad, initially focused on demands for reduced fees, improved facilities, and transparency in the examination process. However, tensions flared after an unidentified gunman opened fire on a group of protesting students, injuring one person. Videos of the shooting—allegedly captured in the presence of police officers—went viral on social media, sparking outrage and turning the movement violent. Protesters torched tyres, vandalised public property, and shouted slogans against the Pakistani government, echoing recent youth-led uprisings in Bangladesh and Nepal.
The unrest follows growing discontent with Pakistan’s handling of governance in the region. Students have complained about arbitrary fee hikes, delayed results, and errors in the newly introduced e-marking system, which they say produced widespread discrepancies in exam scores. Some students were reportedly passed in subjects they never attended, while others failed despite performing well. The education board in Mirpur has since ordered an inquiry, but the response has done little to calm tempers.
Adding to the outrage, authorities have imposed a rechecking fee of Rs 1,500 per subject, meaning students contesting results for all seven subjects must pay Rs 10,500—an unaffordable amount for many families in the region. The situation has further deteriorated as intermediate students joined university protests, expanding the agitation beyond campuses and into urban centres like Lahore, where sit-ins were held outside the Press Club.
Beyond academics, the protests have taken on a distinctly political tone. Students are now voicing anger over infrastructure collapse, unemployment, healthcare failures, and what they call decades of neglect by Islamabad. The movement has also drawn support from the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC)—the same group that spearheaded the violent protests in October, which left at least 12 civilians dead. That earlier agitation was driven by economic demands, including tax relief, cheaper electricity, and subsidies on flour, but quickly turned into a revolt against army chief Asim Munir’s military control and government corruption.
After weeks of confrontation, the Sharif government eventually signed an agreement conceding several JAAC demands, but resentment has only deepened since then. Now, the student-led revolt represents a second and perhaps more dangerous wave—an ideological rebellion by a generation that feels cheated by both the state and its institutions.
Observers have noted striking similarities between the unrest in POK and the youth uprisings that toppled governments in South Asia in recent years. In Nepal, protests that began over a social media ban forced out Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli after demonstrators stormed parliament. In Bangladesh, student movements against corruption and authoritarianism triggered the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in 2024. In Sri Lanka, economic collapse and public rage culminated in the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
The protests in POK, while smaller in scale for now, carry a similar pattern—a grassroots movement expanding from economic frustration to a rejection of systemic corruption and elite rule. With Pakistan’s federal government struggling under political and economic crises, and the military tightening its grip, the unrest in POK could become a flashpoint of instability in the coming weeks.
Whether this Gen Z uprising remains a regional disturbance or evolves into a larger political reckoning will depend on how Islamabad responds. For now, it serves as another sign that anger against the Sharif–Munir establishment is spreading—not through political opposition, but through the disillusioned youth of Pakistan’s most restive territory.
