Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s eruption into violence was extreme, with the deaths of both sides indicating that violence could grow. The death of nine people on Wednesday in Muzaffarabad followed the killing of a shopkeeper on Tuesday; that six people were killed is bad enough, but the death of three policemen by shooting, shows that there was firing on both sides. Some of the protesters were prepared this time. This is a bad marbinger for the future, especially for the future negotiations which are the only way out of the impasse which seems to have developed between the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee. The federal government, which deputed two Ministers, Engineer Amir Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, to help with the negotiations, said that it had agreed to all but two points of the JKAAC demands. Those relate to placing a limit on the size of the Cabinet, and the election of the refugees’ member to the AJK Assembly, which is presently done by a separate all-Pakistan ballot, and which is used to create a majority according to the will of the Islamabad government than the will of the people of Azad Kashmir. As pointed out by Mr Chaudhry, placing a limit on the size of the Cabinet is something only the Assembly can do. Abolishing the refugee seats would be opposed by the federal government, as those are the only representatives of those areas of Kashmir under Indian occupation. Any change in their number or nature would require an amendment in the AJK Constitution.
This unrest has lasted for some time, and can be attributed to the long domination of AJK by the federal government. It is an uncomfortable truth that the AJK government is always of the same party hue as that in Islamabad. The June appointment of 27 ministers (taking the total to 29) as well as seven special assistants to the PM breathed new life into the JKAAC protests. The appointments may have been necessary to shore up the government’s majority, but seems to have fuelled public resentment.
However, that also seems one of the government’s red lines, and the point does not seem to have been settled by the negotiations between a vastly expanded federal team and the JKAAC. The AJK government needs to establish its writ, but must also ensure that this does not stand in the way of a settlement. The federal government must also remain aware that Azad Kashmir is supposed to be the base camp for the liberation of Kashmir, and purely local concerns should not be allowed to provide comfort to any hostile power.
