AJK govt will avoid force if JAAC protests, premier Rathore says

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore has said his government is trying to stop the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) from returning to street agitation, while maintaining that the dispute over the 12 legislative assembly seats reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Kashmir should be settled through talks and wider political agreement.

Speaking in an interview with a private television channel, Rathore said his administration had made what he described as sincere efforts to carry out the agreement reached with the action committee after last year’s protest movement. He said nearly all issues in the committee’s charter of demands had been addressed, apart from one concerning the removal of the refugee seats, which he said later became the main point around which the movement was revived.

He said recent contacts with JAAC had been constructive, but described the demand to abolish refugee seats as a constitutional question that could not be decided by one political party on its own. According to Rathore, the matter requires consensus among all stakeholders.

Referring to the latest round of engagement, he said the government had asked JAAC to postpone its protest call, but the committee did not agree. He added, however, that both sides had agreed to keep negotiations open until June 7.

Rathore also said the issue had been discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and reiterated that the government did not want AJK to go through another phase of unrest. He said the people involved in the movement had the right to raise their concerns and that it was the government’s duty to hear and understand them.

In the interview, the AJK premier said decisions affecting the state’s future should be made through representative institutions rather than through agitation on the streets. He added that many members of the action committee also supported a negotiated outcome.

On the controversy surrounding the refugee seats, Rathore said one argument frequently raised was that those seats could be manipulated because elections for them were held under the influence of provincial governments. At the same time, he said refugees had rendered major sacrifices and played an important role in the affairs of the state, and therefore could not be overlooked.

He also stressed that the state’s interests should take precedence over political affiliations and partisan considerations.