AJK govt links JAAC to India-backed agenda

Accuses proscribed group of causing financial losses of Rs15 billion

MUZAFFARABAD:

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has accused the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (Jaac) of causing financial losses of Rs15 billion to the state through violent activities and alleged that the group has links with anti-state elements backed by India.

Addressing a press conference alongside the AJK Police spokesperson on Monday, Information Secretary Muhammad Rashid Hanif said the banned organisation had inflicted a substantial financial loss on the state, severely straining its limited resources.

He said the group had disrupted law and order, routine life, businesses and students' education under the guise of advocating human rights.

The allegations come days after authorities claimed to have uncovered evidence linking protest organisers and overseas handlers with India, accusing them of promoting anti-state narratives and orchestrating unrest through coordinated campaigns.

Providing background, Hanif said the movement emerged in the early 2020s in response to global inflation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the AJK government had immediately addressed public grievances by providing subsidies on wheat and electricity, adding that both commodities remained cheaper in the AJK than anywhere else in Pakistan.

According to the information secretary, what initially began as a public movement was later hijacked by anti-state elements, diverting it from its original objectives toward political motives before evolving into an unregistered anti-state movement.

He said video evidence had been shared with the media showing Jaac leaders and overseas handlers chanting slogans against Pakistan and its armed forces while promoting chaos and anarchy.

Hanif alleged that the group's activities had gradually escalated from peaceful protests to organised violence targeting state institutions and law enforcement agencies.

Referring to the group's first sit-in in 2023, he said protesters crossed peaceful limits by attacking government installations in Dadyal. He said the violence intensified during the 2024 sit-in when activists clashed with Islamabad Capital Territory police and desecrated law enforcement uniforms.

He further alleged that the movement had increasingly targeted government officials. According to him, members of the group attempted to assassinate an assistant commissioner in Chamyati and physically assaulted a superintendent of police and other officials in Bagh.

He also expressed concern over what he described as the group's use of women and children as human shields during confrontations, calling the practice dangerous and unacceptable.

Hanif claimed there was credible evidence of foreign funding aimed at mobilising members of the overseas Kashmiri diaspora to fuel unrest in the region.