AJK Home Minister Chaudhry Guftar Hussain addresses a press conference along with Primary and Secondary Education Secretary Qazi Inayat in Mirpur on Tuesday. SCREEN GRAB
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Tuesday insisted that an operation against the banned Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had become inevitable after an attack on security forces and civilians in Rawalakot left one Rangers official martyred and another injured.
Sources said armed groups affiliated to the outlawed JAAC opened fire in a civilian area near Matial Maira Bus Terminal in Rawalakot on Tuesday morning. The attackers also fired automatic weapons at police officers as they moved in to control law and order after the attack.
The sources said Rangers personnel reached the spot to help the police restore law and order. However, the armed assailants not only opened direct fire on them but also used Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). As a result, Ranger Naik Imtiyaz Ali was martyred while another official was injured.
Read: Rangers personnel were martyred in Rawalakot attack by banned JAAC armed groups
Later, speaking at a joint press conference with the Education Secretary, AJK Interior Minister Chaudhry Guftar Hussain said authorities had launched a clearance operation after the attack, adding that a full-fledged operation against the armed groups had become inevitable to restore peace in AJK.
The interior minister said the outlawed JAAC had disrupted peace and normal life in the entire region for the past 38 days under the guise of a rights movement while using intimidation and blackmail to promote an anti-Pakistan agenda aimed at defaming the Pakistan Armed Forces.
He alleged that traders had been threatened to close their markets, while students, women and children were used as human shields and young people were pushed out of classrooms and into protest politics.
Hussain said normal life had been restored in most areas, educational institutions had resumed operations and government institutions were fully mobilized to respond to all forms of intimidation and disorder in accordance with the law.
The interior minister told the media that Khawaja Mehran, identified as the leader of the banned organization, had issued a 48-hour deadline to block all entry points into AJK. He added that similar threats had failed in the past as people distanced themselves from the banned clothing.
“The use of sophisticated automatic weapons and improvised explosive devices contradicts the banned committee’s claim of pursuing peaceful protests,” he said. “It makes a decisive operation inevitable to free the public from armed criminals.”
Hussain said law enforcement personnel conducted a clearance operation at Baloch Bazaar to reopen Kotli-Tarar Khal Road and other major highways. The operation would continue until all roads were secured, public safety restored, and the supply of essential raw materials fully secured.
Also read: Former JAAC member calls on management to withdraw Rawalakot long march, sit-in
At the same press conference, the Primary and Secondary Education Secretary, Qazi Inayat, said that after losing public support and seeing its own leaders distance themselves, the banned JAAC had adopted a new strategy of placing women, children and students at the forefront of demonstrations as human shields.
“Involving children and students in protests puts their lives at risk and amounts to sacrificing the future of the younger generation for political purposes,” he said.
Inayat added that the department had directed all educational institutions in Rawalakot to keep students away from all protest activities.
He warned that there was a serious risk that students in school uniform could be used as human shields during demonstrations. He added that the educational institutions had been instructed to closely monitor the attendance and movement of the students and immediately inform the parents if such a situation arose.
The interior minister warned that legal action would be taken against any institution or administration that violates official directives or allows students to participate in protests.
“Schools and colleges, not protest camps, are the rightful place for students,” he added.
Both officials stressed that public and private institutions were functioning as normal and that medical and other colleges had reopened in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli and other areas. They added that summer camps for board classes had also started in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Leepa and Kel.
They urged the people of Rawalakot to reject disruptive elements and cooperate with the state so that businesses, transport services and educational institutions could return to normal.
