- Fazl urges the government to review the protesters’ letter of demands.
- Sanaullah accuses banned committee of blocking AJK polls.
- Bilawal urges PM to rein in ministers over AJK controversy.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Thursday punished Defense Minister Khawaja Asif for his comments questioning the identity of people in Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the epicenter of protests led by the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) against the reservation of 12 seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly for refugees.
Speaking in the National Assembly, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged patience and tolerance, saying many emotional statements had been made in the House, including by President Ayaz Sadiq himself.
“When the government’s reaction becomes emotional, that is not befitting its stature,” he said.
The National Assembly took up the matter when Defense Minister Khawaja Asif came under fire for comments he allegedly made about AJK residents, prompting objections from both the PPP and the JUI-F.
The unrest in AJK began ahead of a June 9 strike called by the JAAC to protest against the reservation of 12 seats for refugees in the July 27 elections to the region’s 45-seat legislative assembly. The refugees live in Pakistan after being displaced from India’s illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Fazlur Rehman criticized Asif and said his remarks were unbecoming of a defense minister and would only further inflame tensions. “You have handed over the struggle to Khawaja Asif and reconciliation to Ishaq Dar,” he told the government.
He said he had received a formal letter from the Awami Action Committee and sent it to the government, but was yet to receive a response.
He said the committee had shared its letter of demands and that protests should not be met with state action based solely on speeches. “Violence should not be used on the basis of the protesters’ speeches,” he said.
Fazlur Rehman welcomed the committee’s decision to postpone his planned march towards Muzaffarabad and said he had responded to the committee’s letter through a video message.
Bilawal attacks Asif
PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose party is a coalition partner at the Centre, came down heavily on certain federal ministers, saying some were creating difficulties for the prime minister instead of helping to resolve problems.
“Why do we have ministers saying that Rawalakot residents are not Kashmiris?” -He asked, adding that the minister responsible had not yet apologized.
“A federal minister, instead of extinguishing the fire, added more fuel to it,” Bilawal said, urging the prime minister to rein in his team. He said Maulana Fazl should be given space to play a mediating role in resolving the matter.
Bilawal also raised the issue of Karachi’s local government system, questioning whether the MQM-P considered Karachi more important than its political seats, and challenged coalition partners to bring Lahore’s municipal system to Karachi as well.
In a stern warning to the MQM-P, Bilawal said that if the prime minister and the government did not accept their demands and only offered lollipops, they should quit the federal government. “How long will they continue with this palette? Get out of the federal government,” he said.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, Bilawal said the PPP was forming a government there with the support of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and the PML-N, and announced that local government elections in GB would be held within 90 days.
Sanaullah accuses committee of blocking elections
Responding on behalf of the government, PML-N senator Rana Sanaullah said the banned Awami Action Committee had adopted a path of arson and violence in Kashmir a year ago, filing 38 demands at that time, all of which, he claimed, had been worked on.
He said AJK residents continued to receive electricity at Rs 3.50 per unit despite significantly higher rates in the rest of Pakistan, and that Rs 10 billion had been provided to address electricity-related issues. He added that wheat subsidies are also given to AJK.
Sanaullah said the committee’s current demand to scrap 12 refugee seats in the AJK assembly was a constitutional and legal matter, and that a six-member committee had been formed to make recommendations to the AJK government on the issue. He accused the banned committee of rejecting multiple options offered by the government, including participating in an all-party conference on the issue of refugee seats.
“The real purpose of the protest call is to stop the AJK elections,” Sanaullah said, adding that the committee wanted to block the elections and was using mass tactics to impose its demands. “Depriving refugees of the right to vote is a departure from the very purpose of the freedom movement,” he said.
He acknowledged that Fazl’s comments on Kashmir carried weight and said Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan and there should be no room for misunderstanding.
He said the government would welcome any mediating role Maulana decided to play. “The issue of seats will not be resolved through demonstrations and sit-ins,” he added.
