AJK govt rules out blanket amnesty for JAAC

MUZAFFARABAD:

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has ruled out any blanket amnesty for leaders of proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (Jaac), holding them responsible for recent deaths and violence and vowing to pursue legal action against them.

Addressing a joint press conference alongside Inspector General of Police (IGP) Liaqat Ali Malik, Chief Secretary Khushal Khan said Jaac leadership had become divided over the ongoing process of negotiations and mediation.

"There will be no blanket amnesty," he said, adding that the leadership of the proscribed organisation would have to face the consequences of the deaths and violence linked to its movement.

On Tuesday, a strike called by Jaac continued in various parts of the region, with Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions observing a partial strike. Meanwhile, most routine activities had resumed in Mirpur.

While some banks across AJK began their operations, connectivity issues persisted as internet services remained suspended. Public transport also remained off the roads in many areas.

At the press conference, Khushal said the government had offered Jaac several constitutional options to pursue its demand regarding the 12 Legislative Assembly seats reserved for refugees from India-held Kashmir, including an all-parties conference, an assembly session and recourse to the courts.

"While the government kept all channels of dialogue open, the organisation expanded its demands from two points to 38, and then added further demands," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has maintained that 35 out of 38 demands of Jaac, agreed between it and the government last October, had been fulfilled.

During the press conference, the chief secretary said road blockades and violent activities were unacceptable, alleging that highways had been blocked by felling trees and that trucks carrying goods had been stopped and burned in some areas.

He also claimed that an attempt had been made in Rawalakot to hijack trucks carrying relief supplies, which law enforcement agencies later recovered. Khan said maintaining subsidised flour and electricity rates had imposed a heavy financial burden on the government.

According to him, reducing electricity tariffs to Rs2.75 per unit could result in annual losses of Rs8b to Rs10b, while subsidies on flour and electricity required allocations of Rs20b to Rs25b from the resources of the federal and AJK governments.

Apparently referring to the considerable number of women and children attending some recent sit-ins, the chief secretary alleged that Jaac leadership was attempting to use women and children as "human shields".

"Political blackmail has been buried, and the era of peaceful, civilised and logical dialogue has begun," he said, adding that the government would continue to take constitutional and legal measures to maintain peace and stability.

Speaking on the occasion, IGP Malik alleged that activists of the proscribed organization had opened fire on police during a routine checkpoint inspection on June 5, resulting in the death of one activist and injuries to Jaac leader Umar Nazir and two police personnel.

The police chief further alleged that Jaac activists attacked the Rawalakot Combined Military Hospital (CMH), killing three policemen deployed there for security duties and assaulting patients and medical staff.

He said LEAs would continue action against those involved in "anti-state" activities and would uphold the writ of the state at all costs. Describing the ongoing protest movement, he contended: "This is not a long march but an organised mobilisation," he said

Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Rathore said reports that Jaac had approached JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for mediation vindicated his government's longstanding insistence on dialogue to resolve the ongoing standoff.

In his video message, Fazl said he has accepted Jaac leaders' invitation asking him to mediate to resolve the "crisis and tense situation" in AJK. However, noting that he had been approached at a time when Jaac was mulling its future course of action, Fazl said he needed time to convince the government to enter into a dialogue.

Ahead of the July 27 elections in AJK, Jaac had called for widespread protests demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the region's Legislative Assembly reserved for refugees from occupied Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947.

On June 5, Jaac was declared a proscribed organisation by the regional government and placed under the First Schedule of the region's anti-terrorism act (ATA).

A day later, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and later placing 147 of its activists on the Fourth Schedule of the ATA.