1,505 Islamabad police deployed in AJK ahead of JAAC protest call for June 9

ISLAMABAD:

A total of 1,505 Islamabad Police personnel were deployed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday in view of a protest call by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) for June 9, as authorities moved to beef up security measures in the region ahead of the upcoming AJK elections, a spokesperson confirmed.

According to police spokesperson Taqi Jawad, the deployment was approved by Islamabad Inspector General of Police Nasir Rizvi as part of a special security plan aimed at maintaining law and order.

The move comes hours after the AJK Election Commission announced that the general elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly will be held on July 27. The commission added that preparations are being made to ensure transparent, orderly and impartial elections under judicial supervision.

The contingent includes senior officers as well as field formations, with a deputy inspector general, two senior superintendents of police and four superintendents of police among those sent to oversee field operations. The force also comprises eight deputy superintendents of police/deputy superintendents of police, 16 inspectors, two sub-inspectors, 70 assistant sub-inspectors and 1,382 constables, forming a multi-tier security structure.

Jawad said personnel are being deployed in full anti-riot gear, while units of the counter-terrorism department, Safe City, Operations and Security Divisions have also been included in the deal.

Security has been put on high alert across Azad Kashmir in view of the Awami Joint Action Committee’s call for protest, with reserve forces kept on standby for further deployment if required.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a post on

“Democratic thinking requires that those making this demand present it to the public on July 27,” he said, adding that voters must be allowed to decide and “shape the form of representation.”

He warned that raising such demands before the election would be seen as “blackmail,” arguing that electoral issues should be resolved through a democratic mandate.

Referring to the representation of Pakistan-based constituencies, Asif said Sialkot city and Tehsil alone return one seat to the AJK Assembly, while there are also two National Assembly seats in the region, with other constituencies spread across Pakistan.

Read: JAAC boycotts APC as parties reject refugee seats proposal for AJK Assembly

He highlighted the presence of a large number of migrants from Kashmir, particularly from Jammu, and said they had settled in Sialkot after the 1947 partition at great human cost. “In October 1947, more than two hundred thousand migrants reached Sialkot city and Tehsil after sacrificing their lives,” he said, adding that many families endured decades of hardship and deprivation of basic amenities. “How can these immigrants be deprived of their rights?” he asked, stressing that they had “paid a very high price for freedom.”

Asif said those who express concerns must pursue their goals through “a democratic path” to ensure acceptance of their views.

Dispute over refugee seats resurfaces in AJK

AJK’s 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees, people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people), an already imbalanced arrangement that many consider unfair.

The issue of refugee representation has long been a key demand of the JAAC, which led a series of protests last year that turned violent and resulted in the deaths of several people.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year, when protests led by the JAAC broke out over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three police officers, died during the riots.

The JAAC, which organized the protests and strike, had put forward a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the elimination of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 basic and 13 additional points. Under the agreement, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

The unrest also sparked political unrest in the region. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) subsequently moved a no-confidence resolution against then Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) joined the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, preferred to face the vote rather than resign.

On 17 November, Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore secured 36 votes in the elections and became the 16th chief minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections approaching and the issue of refugee seats still unresolved, the AJK government called an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost all major parties attended, except the PTI and JAAC, which boycotted it.

The JAAC’s position is that the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30, so attending would be futile. He had proposed maintaining symbolic representation of refugees until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved, or replacing the 12 assembly seats with 4 seats in the AJK Council, a body chaired by the Prime Minister, which he claimed would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir cause.

The APC rejected any changes outside the constitutional and legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could alter the seating arrangement for refugees. The JAAC called the resolution “a page and a half of absolutely trivial lines” and accused participants of coming together to serve their own interests and not those of the public.

The JAAC called for a large protest for June 9 in Muzaffarabad, with caravans converging from across the region.