The federal government’s delegation has signed an agreement with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to end the ongoing protest and unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday.
Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government and federal ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down[1] last week. Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence[2] that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement in AJK. Fierce clashes[3] between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and scores critically injured in the territory.
“Our negotiation delegation has signed on a final agreement with the AJK Joint Action Committee. The protesters are returning to their homes. All roads have reopened,” Chaudhry said on X in the early hours of Saturday.
“This is a victory of peace. Long live Azad Kashmir,” the minister added.
The signing of the agreement comes after two rounds[4] of talks[5] between a high-level government delegation and the JAAC in as many days.
Chaudhry shared a copy of the pact on X, which listed 12 “decisions” taken and 13 “additional points”.
In order to oversee and implement the agreement, a Monitoring and Implementation Committee comprising representatives from the federal government, its AJK counterpart and the JAAC will be notified, the document said.
Besides Chaudhry and Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam from the federal government, the panel will also include two nominated representatives from the AJK administration and two members of the JAAC.
The committee will be responsible for dispute resolution, will formulate rules and regulations of the working methodology and define timelines for the implementation of every decision in the “light of budgetary allocation and other constraints”.
“The committee will also review existing perks and privileges / fringe benefits authorised to [the] judiciary, government officials and ministers in order to rationalise it,” the agreement read.
Chaudhry, Muqam, Interprovincial Coordination Minister Rana Sanaullah, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf, former adviser to prime minister on Kashmir affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, ex-AJK president Masood Ahmed Khan and PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf were part of the government’s negotiating team.
From the AJK government’s side, Education Minister Diwan Ali Chugtai and Local Government Minister Faisal Rathore took part in the talks, according to a copy of the signed pact shared by Chaudhry.
Raja Amjad, Shaukat Nawaz Mir and Anjum Zaman Awan represented the JAAC.
On September 25, a deadlock emerged[6] between the AJK government and the JAAC over the abolition of elite privileges and seats reserved for the Pakistan-based refugees from India-occupied Kashmir.
Subsequently, a shutter-down strike had paralysed AJK under a communications blackout[7] since the start of this week as the JAAC continued for the acceptance of its 38-point charter of demands[8].
On Thursday, PM Shehbaz Sharif had expressed deep concern[9] over the unrest in AJK, directing the negotiation committee to immediately proceed to Muzaffarabad and find an immediate and lasting solution to the issues.
More to follow
References
- ^ broke down (www.dawn.com)
- ^ violence (www.dawn.com)
- ^ Fierce clashes (www.dawn.com)
- ^ rounds (www.dawn.com)
- ^ talks (www.dawn.com)
- ^ deadlock emerged (www.dawn.com)
- ^ communications blackout (www.dawn.com)
- ^ charter of demands (www.dawn.com)
- ^ deep concern (www.dawn.com)