TTAP says the police stopped the delegation from traveling to AJK to participate in the sit-in

ISLAMABAD:

A high-level delegation of Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP), led by National Assembly opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, was stopped by police on Monday from traveling to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after announcing plans to participate in an ongoing sit-in in Rawalakot, the spokesman alliance said.

Earlier today, TTAP announced that its delegation would travel to Rawalakot to express solidarity with the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) sit-in and support what it described as public demands in line with the principles of democratic freedoms, constitutional supremacy and public rights.

The delegation included Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, TTAP spokesperson Hussain Ahmad Yousafzai and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, adviser to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan.

According to the spokesman, the delegation intended to meet JAAC’s leadership and address participants at the sit-in, reaffirming its commitment to the constitution, democracy and the protection of public rights.

Read: Khawaja Asif doubles down, says ‘stand by’ controversial AJK remarks despite wave of criticism

But in a subsequent statement, TTAP said police stopped the delegation in Kahuta before it could enter AJK.

The party spokesman said members of the delegation asked the police under what legal authority they were prevented from proceeding. According to the spokesman, the police officers replied that they had been instructed by their “senior officers” not to allow the delegation to proceed.

TTAP said that peaceful political activity and the right to express solidarity could not be limited by the use of force. It further argued that preventing the delegation from proceeding without a court order or written directive was a violation of fundamental rights.

The delegation maintained that it had traveled peacefully to express solidarity with the people of AJK and said stopping it from continuing was tantamount to curtailing political freedoms, according to the spokesman.

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