ISLAMABAD: A deadlock persists between protesters and the Azad Kashmir government over a 38-point charter of demands laid by the demonstrators, Pakistan Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ameer Muqam said on Monday, with clashes between rival groups killing at least one person.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) has laid a 38-point charter of demands before the Azad Kashmir government, which includes removal of perks of the ruling elites, ending 12 seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly reserved for Kashmiri migrants who came from the Indian-side of the territory, and royalty for hydel power projects in Azad Kashmir.
The JKJAAC, which has organized several protests in Azad Kashmir in recent years to demand resolution of public issues with some of them even turning violent, on Monday went ahead with its call for an indefinite “lockdown” and staged protests at multiple locations in the territory. A clash between JKJAAC and the Muslim Conference, which supports the AJK government, in Muzaffarabad killed one person.
The situation prompted Muqam to hold negotiations with JKJAAC representatives this week that failed to yield results as a deadlock persisted between the two sides, mainly over the dissolution of AJK Assembly seats reserved for Kashmiri migrants who came from the Indian side of the territory.
“I stand here and on behalf of the Government of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, I want to say this again... we believe in talks,” he told reporters in Islamabad. “If there are genuine problems, they should be resolved through talks and dialogue.”
He confirmed the killing of a man in the clash between Muslim Conference and JKJAAC supporters.
“I say this with sorrow that in this [clash], a citizen, Muhammad Sudhir, son of Muhammad Salman, died and a few people were injured,” he said. “This is a matter of great sadness and regret.”
The development came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) to withdraw its call for lockdown, a senior member of Sharif’s party said on Sunday.
“’I will reach Pakistan within next two days’,” Mushtaq Minhas, a member of Sharif’s PML-N party, quoted the Pakistan premier as telling him at their meeting in London. “The prime minister said, ‘We will contact the Joint Action Committee, I will have its representatives invited’.”
Minhas said the prime minister promised to resolve the issues faced by all the Kashmiri people, not just the joint action committee.
“Whatever issues are being faced by the Kashmiris, he will, God willing, play his role regarding their resolution,” he added.
The JKJAAC staged a similar protest in Nov. last year that continued for days and ended after assurances by the AJK government to meet their demands.
In May 2024, at least three protesters and a police officer were killed and several others wounded in days of clashes between demonstrators demanding subsidies on wheat flour and electricity and law enforcement in Azad Kashmir, according to officials.
The protests were called off after Pakistan announced $83 million subsidies and prompted the regional government to notify a reduction in prices of wheat flour and electricity.
The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both sides claim it in full but rule in part and have fought multiple wars over the region.
The protest in Azad Kashmir comes days after demonstrations demanding greater political autonomy in Ladakh, Indian-administered Kashmir turned violent in the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan.
New Delhi blamed the unrest on “provocative speeches” by prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government split Ladakh off from Indian-administered Kashmir in 2019, imposing direct rule on both. New Delhi has yet to fulfil its promise to include Ladakh in the “Sixth Schedule” of India’s constitution, which allows people to make their own laws and policies.
