Srinagar: The 12 seats reserved for refugees in the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir assembly, meant for those who migrated from Jammu & Kashmir and settled in Pakistan, have become the main reason for deadly clashes on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) over the past few days. Reports say as many as 30 people have died in the clashes.The refugee seats in the 53-member PoK assembly have become a become a bone of contention between the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a conglomerate of various socio-political groups, and the government of Pakistan.The JAAC, which has been declared a proscribed organisation by the PoK government now, has been demanding the abolition of these seats, saying these seats are being used to undermine its elected government and ensure Islamabad’s hold on the region.The refugee seatsJournalist and analyst Zaffar Choudhary told The Wire that the issue has its origin in 1947.“Thousands of people from Jammu and Kashmir migrated to mainland Pakistan, and most of them were from Jammu. Between 1947 and 1965, some sporadic migration continued to take place. In 1965, another major chunk of the population migrated, mainly from Poonch and Rajouri,” he said, adding that these people settled in mainland Pakistan and were accorded the status of refugees.He said these refugees could vote in 12 seats in the PoK assembly.“While allocating legislative assembly seats in 1974, a provision was kept for representation for the refugees, and that is something which is closely related to Pakistan’s perspective on the Kashmir conflict,” he said.In the 53-seat PoK assembly, 45 are elected and eight are nominated. Among these 45 elected seats, 12 are reserved for refugees from Jammu and Kashmir who settled in Pakistan – six for refugees from the Kashmir Valley and six for refugees from Jammu.With no definite territorial limits, the voting for these seats takes place in Pakistani provinces, mostly in Punjab, because those who migrated from J&K have mainly settled there.Demand for abolition of seatsChoudhary said there has been a demand for the abolition of these seats mainly from the JAAC, given the odd sort of power that these 12 MLAs wield in PoK.“The population of J&K refugees in mainland Pakistan is scattered. When elections take place, the voter turnout on these seats is very low,” he said, adding that the number of voters who are registered from the six seats of Kashmir Valley is particularly low.The latest electoral roll revision reveals that the total number of voters for these 12 seats is around 438,546. While the voter strength of Jammu seats is between 111,203 and 37,639, the voter size of seats for the Kashmir Valley is very small: from 7,681 to 3,346 voters.Choudhary said these MLAs have voting rights in the PoK assembly. “Those who get elected from these seats are closely connected to the Pakistani establishment. In the past 20-25 years, these MLAs have proved instrumental in installing and de-installing the elected government of PoK,” he said.To a question on why Pakistan is not abolishing these seats, Choudhary said these seats are important for Pakistan from its perspective on Kashmir.“Pakistan wants to tell the world that this Kashmir is an unsettled issue and that the people who represent the areas which are now part of India also sit in the assembly of PoK,” he said.There have also been instances in which PoK MLAs elected against these refugee seats have been alleged to have obtained fake State Subject certificates. The local government of PoK cancelled the certificate of one such MLA in February this year.Like in other seats of the PoK assembly, it is mandatory to furnish State Subject certificates to vote or contest these 12 refugee seats.A state subject is someone recognised under Dogra ruler Hari Singh’s 1927 notification as a native of J&K, as defined in that notification.Symbolic representation to PoK in J&KThe constitution of Jammu and Kashmir had also provided symbolic representation to areas of the state, now a Union Territory, under Pakistan’s occupation.It provided that 25 seats remain vacant for PoK in the J&K assembly for as long as it remains under illegal occupation.Later, one such seat was de-reserved, leaving 24 seats for the symbolic representation of PoK in the J&K assembly.This provision was retained by Parliament in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, enacted in 2019.India maintains that PoK is an integral part of its territory. The resolution passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on February 22, 1994 demands that Pakistan vacate the areas of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression.A provision which existed for the return of such refugees to J&K in the erstwhile state’s constitution was left redundant by constitutional changes effected by the BJP-led Union government in 2019.In the early eighties, the J&K legislature passed a bill-Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement in or (Permanent Return) to the State Act, 1982, for the grant of permits for resettlement of state subjects who had migrated to Pakistan, invoking the powers vested in it by the constitution of J&K.The bill, introduced by Abdul Rahim Rather, then MLA and now Speaker of the J&K assembly, was passed by the assembly in 1982. The then governor, B.K. Nehru returned the Bill for reconsideration.In the meantime, the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh, made a Special Reference to the Supreme Court, seeking an opinion on the constitutional validity of the Bill.The J&K legislature again passed the Bill, with the Governor giving assent to it on October 6, 1982. On November 6, 2001, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court declined to answer the Presidential Reference, observing, “Having regard to the fact that the Bill became an Act as far back as in 1982, it appears to us inexpedient to answer the question posed to us in the Reference…We think, therefore, that the Reference must be, respectfully, returned unanswered.”On February 1, 2002, the Supreme Court imposed a stay on the implementation of the Act. The law was repealed by parliament, along with several other laws, when it enacted The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.Umer Maqbool is a Kashmir-based independent journalist who writes on politics, governance, human rights, and environment.