- Those who took law into their own hands should surrender: Bilawal.
- “AJK situation providing opportunity for hostile elements to exploit.”
- Election Commission asked to withdraw electoral schedule.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday said that the ongoing unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was damaging both the Kashmir cause and Pakistan’s reputation as clashes between proscribed committee members and police left multiple people dead and dozens injured.
“The situation [in AJK] was providing an unnecessary opportunity for hostile elements and India-Israel nexus to exploit,” the PPP chairman said in a statement.
The AJK government on June 5 declared the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), saying the group was engaged in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days ahead of the banned outfit’s planned June 9 protest seeking the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
Earlier on June 8, AJK police said that deliberate firing by members of the banned outfit left four law enforcement personnel martyred and more than 20 police and security officials injured in Rawalakot.
In the statement, Bilawal said political grievances and differences must be resolved through democratic, constitutional and peaceful means, adding that parliament and the political process were the appropriate forums to address such issues.
He said his party had already demanded that the Election Commission withdraw the premature electoral schedule.
“We are committed to achieving a political solution,” he said, adding that efforts would be made to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address pending grievances and bring matters to a fair conclusion.
The PPP chairman appealed to all protesters to end their demonstrations peacefully. He said those who had taken the law into their own hands should surrender themselves to local authorities and allow the legal process to take its course.
“The people of Kashmir should not have to go through protest, confrontation and uncertainty,” he said, adding that if the Centre and all parties reached an agreement, the AJK government could review notifications related to the protesting parties.
He maintained that there could be no compromise on maintaining the rule of law and holding those involved in illegal actions accountable.
However, he added that the government was committed to ensuring that individuals who had done nothing wrong did not have to bear the consequences of others’ actions.
His statement comes a day after Rana Sanaullah, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, claimed that external elements were financing the proscribed JAAC, saying the banned outfit rejected multiple offers aimed at peaceful resolution of disputes.
Sanaullah said that the banned JAAC had raised a new demand this time, seeking the removal of the declaration stating that Kashmir would accede to Pakistan after independence, from the undertaking required to be signed for the AJK Assembly elections.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that external actors, including members of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom, were financing the banned outfit, he added.
