New Delhi, July 30 -- national parties with Islamabad's backing dominating a legislature whose structure was contested before a single vote was counted. What the ballot did not resolve is the question that matters most. The violence, the data shows, is not over.

a sustained wave of demonstrations against the election itself, organized by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, that left dozens dead and the credibility of the electoral exercise in question before polling began.

Since June 2026, ACLED recorded at least 56 JAAC-led protests across the territory, a figure that far exceeds the region's normal weekly protest averages. On at least six occasions, security forces responded to those demonstrations with lethal force agains...