PPP AJK urges withdrawal of migrant seats poll schedule amid unrest

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party's Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter on Sunday asked the AJK Election Commission to withdraw the election schedule for 12 migrant seats, saying the announcement was made at an unsuitable time as tensions escalated ahead of a protest call by the Joint Awami Action Committee.

The demand followed the election commission's June 5 announcement of general elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly on July 27. The protest call concerns 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan, which the JAAC wants abolished.

Speaking at a press conference at Jammu Kashmir House after a meeting of the party's core committee, PPP AJK President Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin said the timing of the schedule had worsened the situation and urged the commission to review the move and continue consultations. He said the party opposed confrontation and said electoral considerations should not take precedence over public safety.

Yasin said efforts had been made over the past seven months to address public concerns and reinforce democratic institutions. He said 37 of 38 demands raised by the Awami Action Committee had been implemented and that the only unresolved matter was the constitutional question of migrant seats. He added that the parties engaged in talks had shown a constructive approach and that only a one-week extension had been sought from the JAAC, which was not accepted.

He also warned that instability in the region could be exploited by hostile elements, particularly India, and said dialogue and political consensus were necessary to lower tensions and deal with the crisis. Yasin said shortages of essential food items were beginning to emerge in Azad Kashmir and described the region as facing uncertainty and instability.

"Issuing the election schedule for migrant seats just three days before a protest call was not an appropriate decision," Yasin said at the press conference.

"Elections in the current situation are not feasible, and the Election Commission should review its decision and continue the consultation process," he said.

"The PPP does not believe in confrontation. Twelve seats cannot be more valuable than human lives," Yasin added.

Other PPP leaders call for reconciliation

Legislative Assembly parliamentary leader Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan said all stakeholders should help restore stability, adding that rushed decisions had aggravated the situation. He called for the immediate withdrawal of the schedule to create space for reconciliation.

Senior Minister Mian Abdul Waheed said safeguarding the state must remain the top priority and that Azad Kashmir could not bear further confrontation under the current circumstances. He urged political forces to settle the dispute through dialogue and said unity among parties, the public and overseas Kashmiris was needed to prevent further deterioration. He also called for consultations on postponing the elections.

Those present at the press conference included Sardar Yaqoob, Mian Waheed, government ministers Sardar Javed Ayub, Javed Iqbal Budhanvi and Sardar Zia-ul-Qamar.

Background to the crisis

The latest demand comes amid unrest in several areas, including Rawalakot, where the newly proscribed JAAC had been staging a sit-in outside Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. The AJK police said armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement personnel in what they described as a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead and around 20 injured. The JAAC disputed that account, saying security forces used tear gas and fired shells towards the hospital.

Police said three individuals linked to the JAAC and four law enforcement personnel were killed during Sunday's protests. The JAAC, however, said in a statement on X that seven people were killed and dozens injured when firing took place in darkness after electricity was allegedly cut off.

The 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now living across Pakistan. Of these, six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division, reported at about 434,000 people, and six represent refugees from the Kashmir Valley, reported at about 30,000 people.

The region also saw major unrest in October last year during protests led by the JAAC over constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed. The committee had demanded an end to privileges for the ruling elite, abolition of the 12 refugee seats and removal of the quota system. Two days after that violence, the government and JAAC reached an agreement on 12 core and 13 additional points, including the formation of a high-level committee to examine the refugee seats issue.

The unrest later fed into political upheaval in AJK. The PPP moved a no-confidence resolution against then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz also backing the move. Haq, elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, opted to face the vote. On Nov 17, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore won 36 votes and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections nearing and the refugee seats dispute unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference in Muzaffarabad to seek consensus. Almost all major parties attended except PTI and the JAAC, which boycotted the meeting. The JAAC said the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30, making participation pointless. It had proposed either retaining symbolic refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently settled, or replacing the 12 assembly seats with four seats in the AJK Council, a body chaired by the prime minister.