Nawaz calls on AJK protesters to end sit-ins, urges for meaningful dialogue

Says such circumstances should never have arisen, as Pakistan belongs to all

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed concern over the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), urging protesters to end their sit-ins and engage in meaningful dialogue.

The former prime minister made the remarks while chairing a meeting convened to review the political and administrative situation in AJK.

Addressing the meeting, Nawaz reiterated the PML-N’s longstanding position on Kashmir.

“People in AJK enjoy full civil liberties under the AJK Interim Constitution Act, 1974. All efforts and resources should be used for their welfare, while the struggle for public rights must remain within the constitutional framework. The PML-N will work with all democratic forces and play its full role,” he said.

The PML-N president expressed deep regret over the loss of lives during recent protests in AJK.

“Such circumstances should never have arisen,” Nawaz said, emphasising that Pakistan belonged to all its citizens and that people should live together in peace and brotherhood.

He expressed hope that the people of AJK, the AJK government, the federal government and all political parties would work together to restore peace and advance the democratic and electoral process in the region.

Referring to recent achievements by the federal government and the country’s defence institutions, Nawaz said these successes should encourage greater unity, tolerance and political harmony across Pakistan and AJK.

لاہور، مسلم لیگ ن کے صدر محمد نواز شریف کی زیر صدارت اعلیٰ سطح اجلاس
آزاد جموں و کشمیر کی سیاسی اور انتظامی صورت حال پر تفصیلی غور
مسلم لیگ ن مسئلہ کشمیر کے حوالے سے ایک واضح مؤقف رکھتی ہے،محمد نواز شریف
کشمیری عوام کو اقوام متحدہ کی قراردادوں کے مطابق حق خودارادیت ملنا… pic.twitter.com/78NIkfVQqU

— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) June 17, 2026

Fatal clashes in AJK sparked competing accounts over casualties, governance grievances and political legitimacy, with official sources confirming at least seven deaths. Last week, the AJK government banned the JAAC, accusing it of involvement in terrorism, promoting hatred, and creating anarchy in the state.

The ban followed the JAAC’s call for a protest on June 9. The organisation has previously spearheaded mass protests demanding economic relief and political rights, with some demonstrations ending in violence and fatalities during confrontations with law enforcement authorities in May 2024 and September 2025.

The recent unrest and deadly clashes in areas, including Rawalakot, where the newly proscribed JAAC had been holding a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead and around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account, claiming security forces used tear gas and fired shells toward the hospital.

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 lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.

The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had presented 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 scrapping of the quota system.

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

Read More: Four police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police

The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence resolution against then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joining the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.

On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes in the election and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections now approaching and the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost every major party attended — except PTI and the JAAC, who 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. It had proposed either keeping symbolic refugee representation 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 it argued 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 refugee seat arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution "a page and a half of utterly trivial lines" and accused participants of gathering to serve their own interests rather than the public's.

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

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday rejected claims that the agreement with the JAAC had remained unimplemented, and said the government had fulfilled the vast majority of its commitments in AJK.