AJK PM Rathore offers JAAC to 'come back to negotiating table'
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. President Asif Ali Zardari discussed the recent Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections and the restive situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in a meeting on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the President's House, the two leaders also discussed national security, the economy, the upcoming federal budget. the regional situation.
"The discussions also covered the recent G-B elections, thelaw. order situation in AJK, and other matters of national importance," the statement said.
The statement added that, while discussing budget proposals. public relief measures, President Zardari stressed the need to prioritise public welfare, provincial rights and economic stability in the upcoming federal budget.
"The president directed that full efforts be made to align the growth rate. public welfare schemes in the upcoming budget," it said.
During the meeting, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi briefed the president on his recent visit to Iran. the latest regional diplomatic engagements.
صدرِ مملکت آصف علی زرداری سے وزیرِ اعظم محمد شہباز شریف کی ایوانِ صدر میں ملاقات۔نائب وزیرِ اعظم و وزیرِ خارجہ اسحاق ڈار، وزیرِ داخلہ محسن نقوی، وزیرِ قانون اعظم نذیر تارڑ، وزیر خزانہ محمد اورنگزیب اور وزیرِ اعظم کے مشیر برائے سیاسی امور رانا ثناء اللّہ ملاقات میں موجود۔…pic.twitter.com/5yC3TOQcYC
Deputy PM. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah attended the meeting.
Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Rathore and other political leaders were also present.
Following the meeting, AJK PM Rathore said detailed deliberations were held over the prevailing situation in the territory.
He acknowledged that the Joint Awami Action Committee's (JAAC) "grievances against 12 refugee seats are not entirely unfair".
He added: "The matter of refugee seats should be resolved. yet it should've been managed differently with an outcome that could be acceptable to everyone. All that was required of them was to show patience and flexibility, the two currencies they're never willing to spend. It always turned normal scenarios into cliffhangers. And so today we're free-falling. How will we recompense the families of security personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty?
"All said. done, I would once again request leaders of the protesters to dial down their offensive approach, put a pause on their constant ultimatums, come back to the negotiating table and listen to reason. I'm sure it's the best way for everyone involved to achieve their desired aims. We must sit and talk about the future of all refugee seats. If you agree, I'll guarantee your safety, security, free movement and a level-playing field during and after the negotiations."
IMPORTANT UPDATE:Today I had meetings with the Honorable President@AAliZardariand the Prime Minister@CMShehbazof Pakistan. Chairman@BBhuttoZardari, other senior leaders of our party and members of the Federal cabinet were also in attendance. We held detailed deliberations…pic.twitter.com/HyOrCAx4eG
Certain elements attempting to disrupt electoral, political process in AJK
While talking to a private news channel programme, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that no one could raise any questions over the transparency of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections, adding that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had emerged victorious. deserved congratulations.
Speaking about the formation of the government in G-B, Chaudhry said the PPP would require support to form an administration,. the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would decide later whether to join the government or sit in the opposition.
"The PML-N leadership in G-B will make that decision, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will endorse it," he said.
Referring to the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu. Kashmir (AJK), Chaudhry said they would also be conducted in a transparent manner. However, he alleged that certain elements were attempting to disrupt the electoral and political process.
"Those powers trying to stop the elections and sabotage the democratic process must be reined in," he said.
Chaudhry added that no political party could or should eliminate another party from the political system.
"We do not want any political party to be wiped out," he said, noting that PTI leaders had campaigned freely in G-B. that "everyone is saying the elections were free and fair."
He said the PML-N had accepted the PPP's victory in the region.
Commenting on the situation in AJK, Chaudhry said peaceful protest was a democratic right and had been allowed. However, he alleged that some elements had turned the demonstration into unrest.
"The government had requested that the protest be postponed, but the JAAC refused. What followed was not a peaceful protest but riots," he said.
He also criticised what he described as misinformation circulating on social media, saying the Kashmir issue should not be politicised.
"This is a conspiracy, and we need to stop it," Chaudhry said.
The meeting came in the wake ofdeadly clashesin AJK's Rawalakot. where the newly proscribed JAAC had been holding a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead. around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account, claiming security forces used tear gas and fired shells toward the hospital.
According to the AJK police, three individuals linked to the JAAC. four law enforcementpersonnelwere killed during the protests on Sunday. JAAC, however, said in a statement on X that seven individuals were killed. dozens were injured when street firing was carried out in the dark after electricity was allegedly cut off.
The clash on Sunday came as the AJK government. the JAAC witnessed a face-off, as the election date for AJK was announced for July 27.
AJK's 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947. 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people). six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) — an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.
The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional. governance reforms. At leastnine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.
The JAAC, which organised the protests. strike, had presented a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.
Two days after the violence, the government and the JAACreached an agreementcovering 12 core and 13 additional points. Under the accord. both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.
Read More:Four police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police
The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequentlymoved a no-confidence resolutionagainst then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joining the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.
On Nov 17, Rathoresecured 36 votesin the election and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
With elections now approaching. the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK governmentconvenedan All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost every major party attended — except PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.
The JAAC's position is that the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30. so attending would be futile. It had proposed either keeping symbolic refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved. or replacing the 12 assembly seats with 4 seats in the AJK Council — a body chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir cause.
The APC rejected any changes outside the constitutional. legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could alter refugee seat arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution "a page. a half of utterly trivial lines" and accused participants of gathering to serve their own interests rather than the public's.
The JAAC called a major protest for June 9 in Muzaffarabad, with caravans converging from across the region.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sundayrejectedclaims that the agreement with the JAAC had remained unimplemented,. said the government had fulfilled the vast majority of its commitments in AJK.
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