Sanaullah alleges foreign funding of JAAC, says multiple solutions offered to resolve AJK dispute

• Says JAAC rejected all govt proposals for peaceful settlement, claiming external actors, including UK diaspora, financing banned outfit

• Rejects claims refugee seats used for rigging, reiterating right to peaceful assembly

• AJK PM says situation ‘not good,’ calls unrest a test for the state

 ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday alleged that external elements were financing the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), claiming the banned group had rejected multiple government offers aimed at resolving disputes through dialogue.

He said the JAAC had raised its demands in October 2025 along with 38 other points and had initially agreed to the formation of a committee to address the matter.

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on June 5 declared the JAAC a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), stating that the group was involved in terrorist activities.

The ban was imposed days before the outfit’s planned June 9 protest, which sought the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK Assembly reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.

Speaking during a television programme, Sanaullah said the JAAC had this time raised a new demand seeking removal of the clause in the election undertaking stating that Kashmir would accede to Pakistan after independence.

He claimed that, following investigations, it had been revealed that external actors, including members of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom, were financing the proscribed group.

The PML-N leader said the federal government had offered multiple options to resolve the dispute over refugee seats, including a referendum, an all-parties conference, and referring the matter to the AJK Assembly for a decision.

However, he said, the JAAC rejected all proposals and insisted on proceeding with its June 9 protest.

Sanaullah rejected allegations that refugee seats were used for rigging, saying they were reserved specifically for individuals who had migrated from IIOJK.

“If you take out the refugees from the Jammu Valley, what becomes of your movement for IIOJK’s freedom?” he asked.

Reiterating the right to peaceful assembly, he said no one had the authority to take up arms or forcibly occupy Islamabad or Muzaffarabad.

AJK situation ‘not good’

Separately, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said the situation in the region was not satisfactory, describing it as a test for the state.

“I will certainly not say that the situation in Azad Kashmir is good,” he said in an interview with Geo News.

Rathore said the lives lost during JAAC protests carried a heavy human cost and could not be ignored.

Referring to past negotiations, he said lives had also been lost during earlier rounds of talks with the proscribed outfit.

He added that the group had not paid attention to his remarks in the past and had sought to exclude the AJK government from the reconciliation process.

Rathore said it was unfortunate that criticism was being directed at the AJK government despite JAAC’s insistence on negotiating only with the federal government.

He further said that commitments made by the AJK government during previous understandings had been fulfilled.