A second round of negotiations between a negotiating team of the government and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) was held in Muzaffarabad on Friday, in a continued bid to end the ongoing unrest in the territory.
Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government and federal ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week. Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement in AJK. Fierce clashes between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and scores critically injured in the territory.
A fresh round of talks between a high-level government delegation and a civil society alliance was held yesterday, followed by another one today.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said in a post on X that the government’s committee was holding a second round of talks with the JAAC representatives in Muzaffarabad.
“We fully support the rights of the people of Kashmir,” he said, maintaining that most of their demands, which were in public interest, had already been accepted.
“Constitutional amendments are required to fulfil the remaining few demands and talks are ongoing regarding that.
“We believe that violence is not the solution to any problem. We hope that the Action Committee will resolve all issues through peaceful dialogue,” the minister said.
In an earlier post, he shared that PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Rana Sanaullah, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf, Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, Masood Ahmed and Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam Chaudhry himself were part of the government’s negotiating team.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had expressed deep concern[1] over the unrest in AJK, directing the negotiation committee to immediately proceed to the AJK capital and find an immediate and lasting solution to the issues.
A shutter-down strike[2] has paralysed AJK under a communications blackout since the start of this week as the JAAC continues to press[3] its demands.
HRCP sounds alarm
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said it is “deeply alarmed by the ongoing violence in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where reportedly at least nine people, including three police officers, have lost their lives and hundreds have been injured during protests”.
“We strongly condemn the use of excessive force and the deaths of civilians and law enforcers alike as well as communication blackouts,” the HRCP posted on X.
It underlined that while “dialogue is essential, it cannot be meaningful amid the continued political disenfranchisement of the region’s people. The right to peaceful protest must be upheld and grievances addressed transparently”.
“We urge both the federal and AJK governments to avoid further escalation, respect people’s fundamental rights and commit to genuine, inclusive negotiations. To this end, HRCP intends to send a fact-finding mission to AJK as soon as possible to assess the situation,” it added.
References
- ^ deep concern (www.dawn.com)
- ^ shutter-down strike (www.dawn.com)
- ^ press (www.dawn.com)