Editing Azad Kashmir (section)

==Government and politics==
{{See also|Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly|Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir|Interim Constitution of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (1974)}}
[[File:Pakistan is full of breathtaking views - Muzafarabad.JPG|thumb|[[Muzaffarabad]], the capital city of Azad Kashmir]]
[[File:UPDATED BAGH AJK, PAKISTAN ASIA.jpg|thumb|[[Bagh, Azad Kashmir|Bagh City]]]]

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is nominally a self-governing state,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ershad |first=Mahmud |date=1 September 2006 |title=Status of AJK in Political Milieu |url=https://www.ips.org.pk/status-of-ajk-in-political-milieu/ |access-date=17 May 2023 |website=Institute of Policy Studies |language=en-US |quote=There is a consensus that AJK does not belong to Pakistan geographically yet it is not an independent state either. |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517074017/https://www.ips.org.pk/status-of-ajk-in-political-milieu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but ever since the 1949 ceasefire between Indian and Pakistani forces, Pakistan has exercised control over the state without incorporating it into Pakistan.<ref name="brit">{{cite web | url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46696/Azad-Kashmir | title = Azad Kashmir | website = Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date = 14 November 2019 | archive-date = 18 May 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091415/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46696/Azad-Kashmir | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ajk144">{{cite web|url=http://www.ajk.gov.pk/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2257&Itemid=144|title=Azad Jammu and Kashmir&nbsp;– Introduction|access-date=22 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000235/http://www.ajk.gov.pk/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2257&Itemid=144|archive-date=27 September 2007}}
</ref> Azad Kashmir has its own elected [[President (government title)|president]], [[prime minister]], [[legislative assembly]], [[high court]] (with Azam Khan as its present chief justice), and [[Flag of Azad Kashmir|official flag]].<ref name="ajk.gov.pk">{{cite web|url=http://ajk.gov.pk/history.php|title=AJ&K Portal|website=ajk.gov.pk|access-date=16 November 2016|archive-date=16 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116103557/http://ajk.gov.pk/history.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Azad Kashmir's budget and tax affairs, are dealt with by the [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council]] rather than by Pakistan's Central Board of Revenue. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council is a supreme body consisting of 14 members, 8 from the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 6 from the government of Pakistan. Its chairman/chief executive is the prime minister of Pakistan. Other members of the council are the president and the prime minister of Azad Kashmir (or an individual nominated by her/him) and 6 members of the AJK Legislative Assembly.<ref name="ajk.gov.pk"/><ref name="ajk144" /> Azad Kashmir Day is celebrated in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on 24 October, which is the day that the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government was created in 1947. Pakistan has celebrated [[Kashmir Solidarity Day]] on 5 February of each year since 1990 as a day of protest against [[India]]'s  sovereignty over its State of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/05/stories/2007020503731300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207021404/http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/05/stories/2007020503731300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 February 2007|title=Pakistan to observe Kashmir Solidarity Day today|date=5 February 2007|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=5 February 2008}}
</ref> That day is a [[Public holidays in Pakistan|national holiday]] in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=36715 |title=Kashmir Day being observed today |date=5 February 2008 |work=[[The News International]] |access-date=5 February 2008 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
</ref> Pakistan observes the Kashmir [[Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir)|Accession Day]] as Black Day on 27 October of each year since 1947 as a day of protest against the accession of [[Jammu and Kashmir State]] to India and its military presence in the Indian-controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

[[Brad Adams]], the Asia director at the U.S.-based [[NGO]] [[Human Rights Watch]] said in 2006: "Although 'azad' means 'free,' the residents of Azad Kashmir are anything but; the Pakistani authorities govern the Azad Kashmir government with tight controls on basic freedoms."<ref name="Adams">{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Brad|title=Pakistan: 'Free Kashmir' Far From Free|date=22 September 2006|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2006/09/20/pakistan-free-kashmir-far-free|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-date=14 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314000110/http://www.hrw.org/news/2006/09/20/pakistan-free-kashmir-far-free|url-status=live}}</ref> Scholar [[Christopher Snedden]] has observed that despite tight controls, the people of Azad Kashmir have generally accepted whatever Pakistan has done to them, which in any case has varied little from how most Pakistanis have been treated (by Pakistan). According to [[Christopher Snedden]], one of the reasons for this was that the people of Azad Kashmir had always wanted to be part of Pakistan.<ref name="Snedden 2013">{{harvnb|Snedden|2013|loc=p. 93: "Second, Azad Kashmiris had always wanted to be part of this nation."}}</ref>

Consequently, having little to fear from a pro-Pakistan population devoid of options,<ref name="Snedden 2013"/> Pakistan imposed its will through the Federal [[Ministry of Kashmir Affairs (Pakistan)|Ministry of Kashmir Affairs]] and failed to empower the people of Azad Kashmir, allowing genuine self-government for only a short period in the 1970s. According to the interim constitution that was drawn up in the 1970s, the only political parties that are allowed to exist are those that pay allegiance to Pakistan: "No person or political party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir shall be permitted... activities prejudicial or detrimental to the State's accession to Pakistan."<ref name="Snedden 2013"/> The pro-independence [[Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front]] has never been allowed to contest elections in Azad Kashmir.{{sfn|Bose|2003|p=100}} While the interim constitution does not give them a choice, the people of Azad Kashmir have not considered any option other than joining Pakistan.<ref name="Snedden 2013"/> Except in a legal sense, Azad Kashmir has been fully integrated into Pakistan.<ref name="Snedden 2013"/>

Azad Kashmir is home to a vibrant civil society. One of the organizations active in the territory and inside Pakistan is [[YFK-International Kashmir Lobby Group]], an NGO that seeks better India-Pakistan relations through conflict resolution in Kashmir.

===Development project===
According to the project report by the [[Asian Development Bank]], the bank has set out development goals for Azad Kashmir in the areas of health, education, nutrition, and social development. The whole project is estimated to cost US$76 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/69690/rrp-pak-38135.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/69690/rrp-pak-38135.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on a Proposed Loan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the Multisector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project for Azad Jammu and Kashmir |publisher=Asian Development Bank |date=November 2004 |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> [[Germany]], between 2006 and 2014, has also donated $38 million towards the AJK Health Infrastructure Programme.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pakistan-Donor-Profile-and-Mapping-by-UN.pdf |title=Pakistan Donor Profile and Mapping |publisher=United Nations in Pakistan |date=August 2014 |access-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215181230/http://www.un.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pakistan-Donor-Profile-and-Mapping-by-UN.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Administrative divisions===
{{See also|Districts of Azad Kashmir}}
[[File:Azad Kashmir Map.svg|thumb|150px|Districts of Azad Kashmir]]
The state is administratively divided into three [[Divisions of Pakistan#Administered territories|divisions]] which, in turn, are divided into ten districts.<ref name="AJK2020" /><ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.ajk.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=8|title= Administrative Setup.|publisher= ajk.gov.pk|access-date= 17 May 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409161504/http://www.ajk.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=8| archive-date= 9 April 2010 | url-status=live}}
</ref>
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Division
!District
!Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population (2017 Census)
!Headquarters
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Mirpur'''||[[Mirpur District|Mirpur]]||1,010
|456,200
|[[New Mirpur City]]
|-
|[[Kotli District|Kotli]]||1,862
|774,194
|[[Kotli]]
|-
|[[Bhimber District|Bhimber]]||1,516||420,624
|[[Bhimber]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Muzaffarabad'''||[[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]] ||1,642
|650,370||[[Muzaffarabad]]
|-
|[[Hattian District|Hattian]]||854
|230,529
|[[Hattian Bala]]
|-
|[[Neelam District|Neelam Valley]]||3,621||191,251
|[[Athmuqam]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |'''Poonch'''||[[Poonch District (AJK)|Poonch]]||855||500,571
|[[Rawalakot]]
|-
|[[Haveli District|Haveli]]||600||152,124
|[[Forward Kahuta]]
|-
|[[Bagh District|Bagh]]||768||371,919
|[[Bagh, Kashmir|Bagh]]
|-
|[[Sudhanoti District|Sudhanoti]]||569||297,584
|[[Palandri]]
|- style="background:#e6e6e6"
<!--
| colspan=5 style="background: black" |
|- style="border: 3px solid darkgray;"-->
|'''Total''': 3
|10
|13,297
|4,045,366
|
|}
[[File:Kotla bagh Azad Kashmir.jpg|thumbnail|[[Kotla, Bagh|Kotla]], [[Bagh District]]]]