Agreement signed with AJK committee to end ongoing unrest: minister

The federal government’s delegation has signed an agreement with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to end the ongoing protest and unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday.

Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government and federal ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week. Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement in AJK. Fierce clashes between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and scores critically injured in the territory.

“Our negotiation delegation has signed on a final agreement with the AJK Joint Action Committee. The protesters are returning to their homes. All roads have reopened,” Chaudhry said on X in the early hours of Saturday.

“This is a victory of peace. Long live Azad Kashmir,” the minister added.

The signing of the agreement comes after two rounds of talks between a high-level government delegation and the JAAC in as many days.

Interprovincial Coordination Minister Rana Sanaullah, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam, Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, former AJK president Masood Ahmed Khan and PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf were part of the government’s negotiating team.

On September 25, a deadlock emerged between the AJK government and the JAAC over the abolition of elite privileges and seats reserved for the Pakistan-based refugees from India-occupied Kashmir.

Subsequently, a shutter-down strike had paralysed AJK under a communications blackout since the start of this week as the JAAC continued for the acceptance of its 38-point charter of demands.

On Thursday, PM Shehbaz Sharif had expressed deep concern over the unrest in AJK, directing the negotiation committee to immediately proceed to Muzaffarabad and find an immediate and lasting solution to the issues.

More to follow

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1946505/agreement-signed-with-ajk-committee-to-end-ongoing-unrest-minister

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