Govt says JAAC still disrupting peace in AJK despite implementation of agreement

Islamabad (Web Desk): Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday claimed that the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) was trying to create unrest despite what he described as the government having already accepted the majority of its demands.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with political representatives from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had set up a high-level committee to engage in talks with Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). He added that a separate oversight committee was also formed to monitor the implementation of the agreed points, and maintained that all commitments reached in the agreement had been fully carried out by the government.

He further stated that despite the implementation of the accord, the group had once again issued calls for protests, which he termed unnecessary under the circumstances. His comments came just two days after the AJK authorities formally banned JAAC under anti-terror laws ahead of its planned demonstration on June 9.

The minister recalled that JAAC had earlier organised major protest movements over economic hardships and political demands, some of which turned violent and led to deaths during confrontations with security forces in May 2024 and again in September 2025.

During the press briefing, Chaudhry also pointed to various welfare and development measures underway in AJK, noting that electricity was being supplied at a subsidised rate of Rs3 per unit, along with subsidies on flour and other basic necessities to ease public burden.

He said that the government had also honoured its commitments to the families of those killed and injured in previous protests, adding that around 170 cases registered in connection with those incidents had been withdrawn as part of reconciliation efforts.

Chaudhry went on to say that the AJK Legislative Assembly had completed its constitutional tenure, while alleging that certain groups were attempting to disrupt the process of holding free and fair elections in the region.

Referring to JAAC’s demand regarding the abolition of 12 refugee seats in the AJK Assembly—reserved for people who migrated from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) after 1947—he said that the judiciary had already made it clear that such constitutional seats could only be altered through legislation.

He added that practical work on development agreements had already begun, including infrastructure-related projects, though he cautioned that major undertakings such as tunnel construction could not be completed in a short time.

Stressing local employment in ongoing schemes, the minister said development required continuity and time, arguing that repeated protests were not a suitable approach for long-term progress.