AJK refugee camps cannot be abolished through ordinances: Sanaullah

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that certain elements are seeking to create instability in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) ahead of the upcoming elections despite repeated offers of dialogue and negotiations by the government.

Responding to a point raised by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Sanaullah said the government had accepted 37 of the 38 demands raised by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), adding that the only outstanding issue related to refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly, which could not be abolished through enforcement.

The adviser said that Pakistan would continue to support the Kashmir cause and the rights of the Kashmiri people, adding that peace and stability in AJK would be maintained in accordance with the law.

Last week, the AJK government banned JAAC, accusing it of involvement in terrorism, promoting hatred and creating anarchy in the state. The ban followed the committee’s call for a protest on 9 June. The organization has previously spearheaded mass protests demanding economic relief and political rights, with some demonstrations ending in violence and deaths during confrontations with law enforcement in May 2024 and September 2025.

Read: Rs10m reward announced for arrest of four JAAC leaders

Sanaullah said in today’s Senate meeting that the action committee had surfaced in 2023 with demands regarding electricity tariffs and wheat subsidies, adding that the government had already addressed the committee’s major demands by providing electricity at Rs4 per unit, subsidized wheat and a Rs23 billion relief package to the region.

Briefing the Senate on negotiations with the committee, the adviser said the government remained engaged with the committee for several months and through negotiations reached decisions on most of its demands, he added.

“One of the demands was the abolition of 12 refugee seats and that those elected on such seats should neither be appointed ministers nor be given quotas in government jobs,” he said.

Sanaullah claimed that if the refugee representation in AJK was abolished, the movement behind the demand would come to an end while noting that Shaheed Maqbool Bhat was a refugee.

He said a Rs23b package was approved after talks with protesters, while a written agreement was later signed after negotiations on 37 of the committee’s 38 demands.

The adviser said the only outstanding issue related to refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

“These seats represented families displaced from the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and could not be removed through executive orders,” he said.

Ranasanaullah said the government had proposed several options, including consultations between political parties, constitutional revision, parliamentary consideration and legal forums, but the proposals were rejected.

He added that all political parties in the AJK, the AJK Legislative Assembly and other constitutional forums had supported the position that refugee representation should remain part of the constitutional framework.

Also read: AJK Police Says 3 JAAC Members Killed In Rawalakot Clash, Several Injured

The adviser further said that the Action Committee was aware that elections would be held before August 4 and alleged that its purpose was to prevent the election process from taking place.

Tarar backs continuation of AJK refugee camps

Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the continuation of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly, saying they were linked to the Kashmir issue, and urged the opposition to initiate consultations with the government on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Tarar said the action committee had demanded the abolition of 12 refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly. He said an all-party conference in Kashmir had agreed that any constitutional amendment should be decided by the assembly.

He maintained that the refugee seats continued to exist because of their connection with the Kashmir issue. He said a reference had been sent to the Supreme Court while the AJK Supreme Court had directed the next assembly to decide the matter.

The minister also claimed that the recent development was influenced by external factors, saying that audio recordings had emerged indicating who was behind them. He claimed that India had not been able to tolerate Pakistan’s response to it.

Background

The recent unrest and deadly clashes in areas including Rawalakot where the recently banned JAAC had held a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police claim that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcers in a planned attack, leaving four people dead and around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account and claims that security forces used tear gas and fired grenades at the hospital.

According to the AJK police, three people associated with JAAC and four policemen were killed during the protests on Sunday. However, JAAC said in a statement on the X that seven people were killed and dozens were injured when street shelling was carried out in the dark after power was reportedly cut.

The clash on Sunday came as the AJK government and the JAAC witnessed a face-off when the election date for AJK was announced on July 27.

AJK’s 53-member legislature includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees – people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now spread across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) – an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region experienced one of its most turbulent periods last October, when protests led by JAAC broke out over demands for constitutional and government reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.

JAAC, which organized the protests and strike, had presented a comprehensive charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly spaces reserved for refugees and the abolition of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 core points and 13 additional points. Under the agreement, both sides agreed to set up a high-level committee to look into the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Read more: Four Policemen Martyred, Over 20 Injured in Rawalakot Firing: AJK Police

The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequently presented a no-confidence motion against the then Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz participating in the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.

On 17 November, Rathore secured 36 votes in the election and became the 16th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections now approaching and the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost all major parties participated – except PTI and JAAC, which boycotted it.

JAAC’s position is that the government had already rejected its written proposal submitted on May 30, so it would be futile to participate. It had proposed either to retain token refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved, or to replace the 12 seats in the Assembly with 4 seats in the AJK Council – a body headed by the Prime Minister, which it argued would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir issue.

The APC rejected any change outside the constitutional and legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could change refugee seating arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution “a page and a half of completely trivial lines” and accused participants of coming together to serve their own interests rather than those of the public.