Govt opens dialogue to defuse AJK crisis | The Express Tribune

MUZAFFARABAD:

Negotiations between the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and a federal government team temporarily stalled on Thursday, despite high-level efforts to defuse the ongoing crisis in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The federal delegation, comprising senior political figures Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Amir Muqam, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others, arrived in Muzaffarabad for talks with JAAC leaders Amjad Ali Khan, Shoukat Nawaz Mir, and Anjum Zaman Awan.

However, Mir announced that the talks would not continue until the government lifted the communication blackout and restored mobile and internet services. He added that the committee needed more internal consultations before resuming discussions later on Thursday night.

Talking to the media in Muzaffarabad, government negotiators, including Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam and Qamar Zaman Kaira sounded optimistic about reaching an amicable solution to the ongoing situation in the territory.

“The dialogue was held in a constructive environment, with both sides listened to each other carefully,” team member and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam told the media after the meeting.

Kaira described the situation as “serious and concerning” but stressed that the government stood with the people of AJK for their rightful demands. “Problems should be solved at the table, not on the streets. Our wish is clear: resolve this crisis through dialogue, not confrontation.”

AJK is paralysed by a protest strike called by the JAAC to press for its various demands. On Wednesday, violence erupted between protesters and police at several locations, leaving at least nine people dead —including three policemen —according to the AJK government.

The AJK prime minister, along with Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, addressed a joint press conference on Wednesday, urging JAAC to engage in dialogue. They warned that violence would resolve nothing and only lead to further bloodshed.

The team travelled to Muzaffarabad on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed deep concern over the escalating situation in AJK, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office Media Wing.

To defuse tensions, Shehbaz dispatched a high-level negotiation committee tasked with seeking both immediate and long-term solutions. He appealed to people to remain peaceful, assuring them that the government was ready to address their grievances, the statement said.

“The delegation includes senior PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, and Sardar Yousaf, as well as PPP leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, and former AJK president Sardar Masood Ahmed,” it continued. The committee would present its recommendations without delay, it added.

Shehbaz directed law enforcement agencies to exercise restraint, show patience, and respect public sentiments. “Unnecessary force must be avoided,” he said, while calling for transparent investigations into the “untoward incidents” reported during the protests. He also ordered immediate relief for families affected by the unrest

Meanwhile, convoys from across AJK were converging on Muzaffarabad in long marches. One convoy from Rawalakot reached Kohala, but tensions flared when demonstrators encountered roadblocks near Dulai, where the road had been dug up to obstruct their advance.

Overall, the situation remained volatile, with conflicting casualty reports. The government confirmed nine deaths from Wednesday’s violence —six civilians and three Islamabad police personnel. However, JAAC claimed the death toll among protesters exceeded 11. Because of the continuing communication blackout, these figures could not be independently verified.

International rights groups also voiced concern. Amnesty International urged the government to safeguard the right to peaceful assembly, refrain from excessive force against non-violent protesters, and immediately lift communication restrictions.

Adding to the unrest, police in Islamabad cracked down on a solidarity protest outside the National Press Club by JAAC’s Rawalpindi-Islamabad chapter and Kashmiri lawyers. Witnesses reported baton charges and arrests, with police even scaling the Press Club gates.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a separate appeal for calm in AJK. In a post on X, he reminded protesters of the decades-long sacrifices made by three generations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“What you have today is far more than what they could even imagine,” he said, pointing to those who had spent lifetimes in prisons, faced bullets, and embraced martyrdom in pursuit of freedom. He added that Pakistan’s armed forces —Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Baloch, Gilgitis, and Baltis —had all shed blood in Kashmir’s wars.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)