PoJK: Two Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) supporters have been killed and eight other people were injured in a crackdown by security forces in Rawalakot city of Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) on June 14, Sunday night. Authorities suspended mobile phone services in Rawalakot on Saturday night, while internet services, already suspended across the region, were extended for another six days until June 20.
According to unconfirmed reports, due to imposition of internet shutdown and closure of mobile services now, the full extent of the crackdown is not clear. Officially, no details are being provided about the number of deaths, injuries or arrests made during the last few days.
These measures have apparently been taken to stop on ground situation reports reaching outside the region and to facilitate a smooth crackdown. Elsewhere in the region, at places like Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Sudhnoti and Khuiratta, JAAC protesters clashed with the Punjabi security forces deployed in the region from Islamabad and Lahore divisions.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) unit of the PoJK appears to be having a rethink about July 27 elections in the region. The PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged the JAAC to end its protests and its AJK chapter has asked the Election Commission to withdraw the election schedule.
Incidentally, the filing of nominations was to start on June 9, several days ago and the voting is scheduled to be held on July 27. However, no candidates have filed their nominations for the 12 reserved seats for refugees till date. These seats, six for people from the Jammu region and six for the people of Kashmir valley, are the spark that lighted the protests in the entire PoJK region some days ago.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has, more than once, appealed to JAAC supporters, who are protesting, to end their demonstrations. He has warned that the unrest was “damaging both the Kashmir cause and Pakistan’s international reputation”.
In a statement, the PPP chairman said the imminent signing of the Pakistan-mediated peace agreement between the US and Iran marked “a historic moment”. The former foreign minister of Pakistan said: “At a time when the international spotlight is firmly on Pakistan, the ongoing unrest in AJK is damaging both the Kashmir cause and Pakistan’s reputation”.
He urged protesters to end their demonstrations peacefully and asked those who had “taken the law into their own hands” to surrender to the authorities and allow “due process to take its course”. The PPP chairman stressed that political grievances should be resolved through “democratic, constitutional and peaceful means”.
“Parliament and the political process, not the streets, are the appropriate forums for addressing and settling such issues”, he said. Incidentally, these words ring absolutely hollow as the PoJK region does not have any presence in Parliament of the nation. The POJK region has no members in the National Assembly which is constituted after direct elections. The region does not have any presence in the Senate which is the Upper House of Pakistan either.
Such being the situation, Bilawal is suggesting that the people from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan discuss issues related to PoJK. The JAAC leaders have rejected Bilawal’s overtures pointing that the decisions on these issues cannot be taken by people from Pakistan’s provinces without any say of the PoJK’s own people.
Bilawal recalled that the PPP had already asked the Election Commission to withdraw its “premature election schedule” for polls set for July 27. The party remained committed to a political solution and would seek the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address outstanding grievances, he added. This idea of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to discuss issues related to PoJK is a novel concept that will need elaboration.
In an apparent reference to the June 5 decision to proscribe JAAC, he said the government could review notifications issued against protesting groups if all stakeholders, including the Federal government, reached a consensus. This is being interpreted as a sign of softening of approach towards the JAAC leadership subject to certain conditions.
Meanwhile, PoJK PPP President Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin has urged the Election Commission to immediately withdraw the election schedule, stressing the need for initiating dialogue to defuse the current crisis. At a packed press conference held at Kashmir House in Islamabad after a meeting of the party’s core committee, Yasin said negotiations and political consensus were unavoidable to address the challenges facing the state and end the prevailing tensions.
“Implementation has been completed on 37 of JAAC’s 38 demands. Only the constitutional matter relating to refugee seats remains under consideration, for which alternative legal and constitutional avenues exist,” he said. Criticising the timing of the election schedule, he said its announcement just three days before the protest call was inappropriate.
“Under the current circumstances, holding elections appears difficult. The Election Commission should withdraw the schedule and move the consultative process forward. The PPP is not in favour of any confrontation or clash. These 12 refugee seats cannot be more valuable than human lives,” he said.
The PPP core committee has unanimously decided to prioritise reconciliation and political harmony over confrontation. Two people were killed and eight others injured in a clash between protesters and law enforcement personnel near Eidgah Ground in Rawalakot during the early hours of June 14, unday, according to Poonch Divisional Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan. JAAC has been holding nightly gatherings at the site since Wednesday.
The shutter-down strike observed on JAAC’s call continued for a sixth consecutive day all across PoJK, including Muzaffarabad. This shows the extent of widespread support for JAAC in the region among the masses.
On the other hand, speaking to a private TV channel, Pakistan’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has said that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) wanted elections to be held on time without delay. He described the polls as the solution to prevailing issues in the region.
The minister said the PPP had not consulted the PML-N regarding the postponement of the polls. This shows that sharp differences has emerged between two parties ruling Pakistan as also PoJK. Prime Minister of PoJK Mumtaz Rathore is a PPP politician who replaced his predecessor, a Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) leader with the support of PML-N.
Chaudhry said the current assembly had taken the oath on August 3 and as such elections must be held before the due date. He affirmed that July 27 was scheduled to be the polling day in the region. However, he added that the deadline for submission of nomination papers could be extended if required.
Referring to the recent unrest, Chaudhry expressed regret over the loss of lives in Rawalakot and urged protesters to end sit-ins and demonstrations. In a related development, Pakistan Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said differences should be resolved through democratic and constitutional means.
“Everyone has the right to protest, but taking the law into one’s own hands cannot be allowed”, he told reporters outside Parliament House. PPP senior leader Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said the party had sought postponement of the elections because of the law and order situation as well as the commencement of the holy month of Muharram, which would halt electioneering activities.
“It has been the party’s position from the outset that elections should not be held in AJK without the restoration of peace”, he said. Bukhari also said local government elections in Gilgit-Baltistan should be postponed because of Muharram.
