The banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Wednesday announced it is deferring until July 21 its scheduled long march on Muzaffarabad, adding back-channel contacts are ongoing to achieve a negotiated settlement to the ongoing impasse.
The group and its supporters have been staging a sit-in at Rawalakot in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for the past month, demanding the abolition of 12 reserved seats for refugees who migrated from India-held Kashmir to Pakistan after 1947. According to local reporters, the JAAC had planned to march on the disputed region’s capital on Wednesday and several thousand people had gathered for this purpose at the sit-in site.
However, the march was deferred once more, as leaders of the banned group met a delegation of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF). Reportedly, the JAAC believes the delegation has secured backing from high-ranking officials and has enabled a broad agreement on most of its demands. However, it remains unclear what, exactly, was committed to the JAAC. Appearing on TV on Wednesday night, State Minister Aqeel Malik claimed the government had not entered into any negotiations with the banned group.
In an address to the sit-in, JAAC leader Umar Nazir Kashmiri said the long march was deferred for a week but the sit-in would continue. He also warned that if matters were not resolved, the march would resume on July 22. “We hope the matters agreed upon in principle will be amicably settled during this period,” he said, while thanking Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and OPF Chairman Syed Qamar Raza for “understanding” the grievances of the people of Kashmir.
Kashmiri further claimed the JAAC had sent a letter to the Army chief earlier this week after believing he was not fully aware of their concerns. “We placed all the facts before him and left the matter to his judgement,” he added.
Incitement
Prior to Kashmiri’s announcement, AJK Home Secretary Chaudhry Guftar Hussain and police spokesperson Irfan Masood Kashfi told a joint press conference that the banned JAAC was utilizing social media to spread “baseless claims and propaganda” and incite the people against the state.
Hussain reiterated that the JAAC was using women and children as “human shields,” adding such actions violated “Kashmiri values.” He alleged the JAAC had promoted anti-state narratives, antagonized people against the Army, attempted to damage Pakistan and AJK’s historical relationship, restricted people’s movement by blocking roads and disrupted the lives of ordinary citizens. “All these actions prove that JAAC’s actual purpose is not to protect the rights of the people but to damage AJK’s peace, economy and law and order,” he emphasized.
The home secretary maintained the government would avail all necessary measures to maintain peace, uphold law and order, and ensure the safety of citizens. He emphasized that the AJK general elections would take place as scheduled on July 27.
The police spokesperson, meanwhile, said efforts to clear road blockades are ongoing, and would continue until all routes were reopened. He warned that no armed group would be allowed to challenge the writ of the state.