MUZAFFARABAD:
The negotiations between the Awami action committee Jammu Cashmira (Jaac) and a federal government team stagnated on Thursday, despite high -level efforts to calm the crisis in progress in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The Federal Delegation, which includes higher political figures, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Amir Muqam, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others, arrived in Muzaffarabad to talk to the leaders of Jaac Ali Khan, Shoukat Nawaz Mir and Anjum Zaman Awan.
However, Mir announced that the conversations would not continue until the government lifted the communication blackout and restored mobile services and the Internet. He added that the committee needed more internal consultations before resuming discussions later on Thursday night.
Speaking to the media in Muzaffrabad, government negotiators, including Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam and Qamar Zaman Kaira, seemed optimistic about reaching a friendly solution to the continuous situation in the territory.
“The dialogue was carried out in a constructive environment, with both parties listened carefully,” said the member of the Federal Minister of Bachelor Affairs Amir Muqam to the media after the meeting.
Kaira described the situation as “serious and worrying”, but emphasized that the government was with AJK’s people for its legitimate demands. “Problems must be solved at the table, not in the streets. Our desire is clear: solve this crisis through dialogue, not confrontation.”
AJK is paralyzed by a protest strike called by the JAAC to press for its various demands. On Wednesday, violence broke out between protesters and the police in several places, leaving at least nine dead people, including three police officers, according to the AJK government.
AJK’s Prime Minister, together with the Federal Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, a joint press conference went on Wednesday, urging Jaac to participate in the dialogue. They warned that violence would not solve anything and only lead to greater bloodshed.
The team traveled to Muzampharabad for the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed a deep concern about the intensive AJK situation, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office media wing.
To calm the tensions, Shehbaz sent a high -level negotiation committee in charge of looking for immediate solutions and long term. He appealed to people to remain peaceful, assuring them that the government was ready to address their complaints, according to the statement.
“The delegation includes the senior leaders of PML-N Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Sardar Yousaf, as well as the leaders of PPP Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira and the former president of AJK, Sardar Masood Ahmed,” continued. The committee would present its recommendations without delay, he added.
Shehbaz ordered the law enforcement agencies that exercise restriction, show patience and respect public feelings. “Unnecessary force should be avoided,” he said, as he requested transparent investigations on the “adverse incidents” reported during the protests. He also ordered immediate relief for families affected by disturbances
Meanwhile, the convoys of every Ajk were converging in Muzampharabad in long marches. A Rawalakot convoy arrived in Kohala, but the tensions exploded when the protesters found obstacles near Dulai, where the road had been dug to obstruct its advance.
In general, the situation remained volatile, with reports of contradictory victims. The Government confirmed nine deaths from the violence on Wednesday: six civilians and three staff of the Islamabad Police. However, Jaac said that the death toll among protesters exceeded 11. Due to the continuous communication blackout, these figures could not be verified independently.
International rights groups also expressed concern. Amnesty International urged the Government to safeguard the right to the Pacific Assembly, refrain from excessive force against non -violent protesters and immediately raise communication restrictions.
In addition to the riots, the police in Islamabad took energetic measures against a solidarity protest outside the National Press Club by the Rawalpindi-Islamlabad chapter of Jaac and the lawyers of Cashmira. The witnesses reported baton and arrest charges, and the police even climbed the doors of the press club.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif issued a separate appeal for calm in AJK. In an X publication, he reminded the protesters of the sacrifices of decades made by three generations in illegally occupied Indians Jammu and Kashmir (Iiojk).
“What you have today is much more than they could imagine,” he said, pointing to those who had spent lives in prisons, faced bullets and hugged martyrdom in search of freedom. He added that Pakistan’s armed forces (Punjabis, Pashuns, Sindhis, Baloch, Gilgitis and Baltis) had spilled blood in the Kashmir Wars.
(With application entry)
