AJK administration hopeful remaining JAAC protesters will disperse peacefully

MUZAFFARABAD: The Poonch administration in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is hopeful that the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters will disperse peacefully after a sizeable number of people gathered again after Friday prayers.

The regional administration and the JAAC have been at odds over various issues, most notably the committee’s demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947.

However, an official of the district administration claimed that fewer than 2,000 people were present after dusk. He added that participants in the gathering remain uncertain as they cannot march towards Rawalakot, with all routes leading to the city blocked by law enforcement.

“When their strength was around 15,000 to 16,000, even then they could not move towards Rawalakot. We have sent a message to JAAC leader Umar Nazir to call off the demonstration unconditionally,” said Poonch Divisional Commissioner Waheed Khan.

Khan expressed hope that those remaining would disperse later tonight. He also said a law enforcement camp would be established at the gathering site by tomorrow morning.

Supporters disperse at midnight

All three gatherings of the activists and supporters of JAAC at the fringes of Rawalakot dispersed and their participants returned to their respective areas shortly after midnight, officials said on Friday.

The development reportedly came after indications that authorities had planned a major operation to uproot the protesters, who had converged from various districts on the eastern outskirts of Rawalakot in Poonch district.

“There is not a single participant at any of the three sit-in sites on the outskirts of Rawalakot. All have unconditionally surrendered before the state and have returned, rather fled, back to their respective areas,” Poonch Divisional Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan told Dawn in the early hours of Friday.

On Thursday evening, the administration had constituted a dedicated contingent of around 1,000 Rangers, Federal Constabulary, Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) police personnel for a “decisive action”, apart from staging a flag-march of between 70 and 80 armoured and other vehicles.

Recalling that the administration had sent a law enforcement team on Thursday morning to arrest Umar Nazir Kashmiri, one of the hard-line JAAC core members, Khan claimed the move had “already chilled his blood”.

In the meantime, Khan said, backchannel messaging with Kashmiri was carried through two seasoned local leaders — District Bar Association President Sardar Javed Nisar and Poonch District Council Chairman Sardar Javed Sharif — who conveyed to him a clear message to surrender in the interest of his personal safety and that of all other participants.

According to Khan, Kashmiri responded that if the notification proscribing JAAC was withdrawn, he would not only announce an end to the sit-ins but also surrender himself before the local station house officer (SHO).

At this, Khan said he told JAAC leaders to carry on their sit-in while he consulted his higher authorities. It was then that the tone of JAAC leaders changed, and they started saying that they would continue a peaceful sit-in, he added.

However, when the message of a huge flag march in Rawalakot reached the JAAC camp, they became apprehensive that the administration was contemplating launching a decisive action, “perhaps a blitz”, he added.

According to Khan, by midnight, the administration started receiving reports about “chaos and panic” in the proscribed organisation’s ranks and files, and after an hour, the entire Eidgah area was rendered “completely unoccupied”.

When the message reached the other two sites where activists had gathered, they also imitated the move and dispersed, he said.

In response to a question, he said all deputy commissioners had been directed to raid the houses of those activists who were wanted under any first information report (FIR), either registered in the past or during the latest episode.

“God willing, Umar Nazir will also soon surrender himself before the local SHO,” the divisional commissioner said.

He noted that the authorities had also blocked the computerised national identity cards (CNICs) of all 31 core members of the JAAC, and subsequently their passports.

“This time, there will be no compromise on the writ of the state,” he asserted.

Tensions in the region

The protests have seemingly wrapped up after Rawalakot observed a complete shutter-down strike for the third consecutive day on Thursday.

The day also recorded violence as one person who participated in a JAAC gathering was killed and four others were injured in a clash with law enforcement personnel on Rawalakot’s outskirts.

Also on Thursday, speaking in the National Assembly, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif urged the JAAC to let the people of AJK decide whether the 12 refugee seats should be abolished.

Last Friday, following the announcement of the JAAC’s June 9 strike, the AJK government declared the body a proscribed organisation, stating that it was “engaged in terrorism” and had acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state.

A day later, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas. Sedition proceedings against two of its leaders have also been ordered, and a Rs10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four leaders has been announced.

Tensions in the region particularly flared up after a violent protest in Rawalakot, during which at least four law enforcement personnel and seven civilians lost their lives.

Islamabad has also dispatched federal paramilitary forces to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police force, and intending visitors have been advised to postpone their trips until June 20. ...