PoJK: Marathon talks between a Federal ministerial team and the core leadership of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) have ended without a breakthrough. The committee has now announced that it will go ahead with its programme to organise a major strike on June 9 as announced and planned earlier.
The dialogue was convened mainly to stall the JAAC plans for strike, to get it entangled in talks and withdraw its strike call. The Federal ministerial team appointed by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked JAAC to resolve differences over its charter of demands through dialogue. The outcome has heightened concerns over political stability in Pakistan-occuped Jammu Kashmir (POJK) where general elections are expected in the last week of July.
“Today, we held talks with the representatives of the governments of Pakistan throughout the day on all issues, including the 12 refugee seats”, JAAC core member Shaukat Nawaz Mir told reporters after the talks ended.
Breach of trust by federal govt of Pakistan
“Despite the breach of trust, we had detailed discussions and proposals were exchanged as well”, he said, adding that government representatives had requested them to postpone the planned strike. “But we have decided to keep our strike call intact”, he said. However, he added, the JAAC remained open to future engagement.
It was in October 2025 that the Federal government had agreed to most demands of the JAAC. It had then promised that the issue of 12 seats for the refugees will be resolved to their satisfaction through dialogue. However, the Federal government has used past eight months to stall any resolution leading to hardening of the JAAC stance.
The talks that ended abruptly late on May 30, Saturday night had assumed added significance amid growing fears that any prolonged agitation could affect preparations for the upcoming elections. Although the election schedule has not been announced so far, political observers believe sustained unrest could complicate the polling process.
The Federal delegation included cabinet members Rana Sanaullah, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N, as well as former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and former Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira representing the PPP. PoJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, PPP regional President Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, PML-N regional President Shah Ghulam Qadir and party regional secretary general Chaudhry Tariq Farooq also attended.
JAAC wants minister excluded from talks
Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam did not participate in the talks. His absence came amid repeated JAAC demands that he be excluded from the process over allegations of bias. Members of the federal team, however, said he was occupied with matters relating to the Gilgit Baltistan elections.
The JAAC side comprised 16 core members, including Shaukat Nawaz Mir, Raja Amjad Ali Khan, Anjum Zaman Awan, Umar Nazir Kashmiri, Saad Ansari and Imtiaz Aslam. The JAAC enjoys all round support in whole of PoJK and has been agitating against unfair treatment by the Federal government.
Participants said 37 of the 38 points in the JAAC’s charter of demands were discussed. The sole unresolved issue and the most contentious one, remained the abolition of 12 legislative assembly seats reserved for Pakistan-based refugees.
Reservation for refugees is a political manipulation
The refugee seats have emerged as the principal stumbling block in the negotiations. The PML-N’s PoJK chapter opposes their abolition, partly because it expects to perform strongly in the 10 refugee constituencies located in Punjab. The PPP, which currently enjoys the support of five refugee lawmakers, is considered less invested in retaining the arrangement.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Rana Sanaullah insisted the dialogue process remained alive. “The negotiations have absolutely not failed; this process will continue”, he said. He added that discussions had taken place in a positive atmosphere and that both sides had exchanged proposals.
According to him, the AJK government and the opposition PML-N have agreed to convene an all-parties conference on the situation and the JAAC’s demands. Another round of talks is expected on June 6 or 7 following the conference.
