Says ‘surely a path to peace and well-being will be found’ if violence is abandoned
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry addresses a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday. SCREEN GRAB
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, on Monday urged the recently banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to give up its alleged violence and adopt constitutional means to achieve its demands, while saying there were no direct talks underway with the group, although the Azad Jammu and Kashmir premier was welcome to try.
Tensions have risen in AJK following recent deadly clashes that have fueled competing narratives of victims, government grievances and political legitimacy. Official sources have confirmed at least seven deaths.
Officials said that despite claims of peaceful intentions, certain elements have continued to engage in violent activities. The same elements, they added, have previously been involved in damage to public property and attacks that resulted in the martyrdom and injuries of security personnel.
Addressing a press conference outside the Parliament building, Chaudhry urged the JAAC to refrain from adopting a violent approach and instead resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, stressing that disputes should be settled through peaceful engagement rather than confrontation.
“Now that JAAC is banned, the government is not negotiating directly with the committee.”
Nevertheless, Chaudhry said the government would have “no reservations” if AJK Chief Minister Faisal Rathore, who he said was a “dynamic youth” and very active amid the situation, tried to resolve the matter in an indirect manner.
“There should be no violence. There should be no loss of life,” he said, urging JAAC once again to abandon the path of resistance and confrontation. “Certainly a way will be found that will be of peace and well-being.”
Speaking about the sit-in, the minister asked the protesters to give peace a chance as the loss of lives “revolving around the 12 seat issue” was incomprehensible and irrational.
He said the government had taken significant steps to address the protesters’ concerns and claimed that at least 35 of their 38 demands had been met.
The Federal Minister explained that the lapse of three demands was based on the pendency of the issue in court.
Chaudhry described the measures taken to bring stability to the region, highlighting that the government closed 170 First Information Reports (FIRs) against the protesters and compensated the families of those who lost their lives on par with the law enforcement officials.
He also said that the government offered jobs to the aggrieved family members of the victims who died on the day of the protest.
“We have reduced the size of the AJK cabinet from 36 to 20 as per the agreement reached between the contending parties while accepting demands that were quite non-negotiable,” the minister stressed, adding that the ministries had also been reduced from 32 to 22.
On the issue of the issue of 12 migrant seats, Chaudhry urged JAAC to seek political, legislative or judicial discourse and highlighted that the provision was protected under AJK’s interim constitution.
He lamented that the call for the long march was not postponed by JAAC despite repeated requests from the government, which eventually led to violence and unrest in the Valley.
“Four policemen, including one from the Frontier Corps (FC), lost their lives in the riots,” he recalled.
Chaudhry further said that the scenes witnessed in AJK were deeply worrying for its residents as well as all Pakistanis.
A day ago, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, whose party is in power in AJK, directly appealed to protesters, urging them to end their demonstrations peacefully and bring their protest activities to a “peaceful end”.
He warned that the situation created an “unnecessary opportunity” for hostile actors and the “India-Israel nexus” to exploit the development for their own purposes.
Background
The latest unrest and deadly clashes erupted in areas including Rawalakot where the 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. 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 came as the AJK government and JAAC witnessed a face-off when the election date for AJK was announced on July 27.
Read more: Certain elements seeking to destabilize AJK despite repeated offers of dialogue: Rana Sanaullah
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.
