The banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Thursday announced it will march on Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital Muzaffarabad on July 15 if its charter of demands is not fully implemented by then.
The JAAC and its supporters have been staging a sit-in at Rawalakot since June 10 over demands for the abolition of 12 reserved seats for refugees from India-held Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan after 1947. The government insists the issue can only be solved through legislation, and has claimed abolishing the seats outright risks damaging the country’s claim on Kashmir at global forums.
Addressing supporters at the Rawalakot sit-in, JAAC member Umar Nazir Kashmiri said the long march had been paused at the site since June 10 but would resume toward Muzaffarabad from July 15 if the group’s charter of demands remained unimplemented by July 14.
“Once again, the JAAC seeks implementation of its charter of demands by July 14,” he said. “If there is no progress by the evening of July 14, we will make a new announcement on July 15. That day, there will neither be this charter of demands nor any demand for the implementation of any agreement. God willing, we will leave this place with a new announcement,” he added.
In his address, Kashmiri called on people of the region to support the demonstration. He also urged national and international media, political parties, and local and international human rights organizations to monitor the march. He specifically thanked several Pakistani opposition leaders for undertaking efforts to broker peace but said this initiative had come too late.
Referring to the arrests of several JAAC members over the past month, he identified Sahibzada Khalid Waqas, Raja Saeed Ahmed, Syed Shujaat Kazmi, Malik Adeel, Raja Iftikhar and Advocate Ali Raza as “interim core members” for Muzaffarabad.
Two More Casualties
Also on Thursday, government officials confirmed that two people were killed and several others injured in Poonch district as law enforcers clashed with locals while attempting to clear a road blockade to allow the passage of a food convoy. The convoy, reportedly, was traveling to Rawalakot via Bagh when it was halted by a JAAC sit-in.
Officials have alleged they were fired upon when a security deployment from Rawalakot attempted to facilitate them, with two protesters injured during the resulting exchange of fire.
According to a statement issued by the Poonch administration, the JAAC’s blockades have disrupted the supply of essential commodities to Rawalakot. Acknowledging the casualties, it said the convoy had eventually reached Rawalakot.