Ministerial team meets JAAC; Talks hindered by communication blackout; Protest leaders require time for consultation
\n MUZAFFARABAD
\nNegotiations between the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and a federal government team temporarily stalled on Thursday, despite high-level efforts to defuse the ongoing crisis in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
\nThe federal delegation, comprising senior political figures Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Amir Muqam, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others, arrived in Muzaffarabad for talks with JAAC leaders Amjad Ali Khan, Shoukat Nawaz Mir, and Anjum Zaman Awan.
\nHowever, Mir announced that the talks would not continue until the government lifted the communication blackout and restored mobile and internet services. He added that the committee needed more internal consultations before resuming discussions later on Thursday night.
\nTalking to the media in Muzaffarabad, government negotiators, including Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam and Qamar Zaman Kaira sounded optimistic about reaching an amicable solution to the ongoing situation in the territory.
\n\u201cThe dialogue was held in a constructive environment, with both sides listened to each other carefully,\u201d team member and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam told the media after the meeting.
\nKaira described the situation as \u201cserious and concerning\u201d but stressed that the government stood with the people of AJK for their rightful demands. \u201cProblems should be solved at the table, not on the streets. Our wish is clear: resolve this crisis through dialogue, not confrontation.\u201d AJK is paralysed by a protest strike called by the JAAC to press for its various demands. On Wednesday, violence erupted between protesters and police at several locations, leaving at least nine people dead \u2014 including three policemen \u2014 according to the AJK government. The AJK prime minister, along with Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, addressed a joint press conference on Wednesday, urging JAAC to engage in dialogue.
\nThey warned that violence would resolve nothing and only lead to further bloodshed.
\nThe team travelled to Muzaffarabad on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed deep concern over the escalating situation in AJK, according to a statement from the Prime Minister\u2019s Office Media Wing.
\nTo defuse tensions, Shehbaz dispatched a high-level negotiation committee tasked with seeking both immediate and long-term solutions. He appealed to people to remain peaceful, assuring them that the government was ready to address their grievances, the statement said.
\n\u201cThe delegation includes senior PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, and Sardar Yousaf, as well as PPP leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, and former AJK president Sardar Masood Ahmed,\u201d it continued. The committee would present its recommendations without delay, it added.
\nShehbaz directed law enforcement agencies to exercise restraint, show patience, and respect public sentiments. \u201cUnnecessary force must be avoided,\u201d he said, while calling for transparent investigations into the \u201cuntoward incidents\u201d reported during the protests. He also ordered immediate relief for families affected by the unrest
\nMeanwhile, convoys from across AJK were converging on Muzaffarabad in long marches. One convoy from Rawalakot reached Kohala, but tensions flared when demonstrators encountered roadblocks near Dulai, where the road had been dug up to obstruct their advance.
\nOverall, the situation remained volatile, with conflicting casualty reports. The government confirmed nine deaths from Wednesday\u2019s violence \u2014 six civilians and three Islamabad police personnel. However, JAAC claimed the death toll among protesters exceeded 11. Because of the continuing communication blackout, these figures could not be independently verified.
\nInternational rights groups also voiced concern. Amnesty International urged the government to safeguard the right to peaceful assembly, refrain from excessive force against non-violent protesters, and immediately lift communication restrictions.
\nAdding to the unrest, police in Islamabad cracked down on a solidarity protest outside the National Press Club by JAAC\u2019s Rawalpindi-Islamabad chapter and Kashmiri lawyers. Witnesses reported baton charges and arrests, with police even scaling the Press Club gates.
\nDefence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a separate appeal for calm in AJK. In a post on X, he reminded protesters of the decades-long sacrifices made by three generations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
\n\u201cWhat you have today is far more than what they could even imagine,\u201d he said, pointing to those who had spent lifetimes in prisons, faced bullets, and embraced martyrdom in pursuit of freedom. He added that Pakistan\u2019s armed forces \u2014 Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Baloch, Gilgitis, and Baltis \u2014 had all shed blood in Kashmir\u2019s wars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ministerial team meets JAAC; Talks hindered by communication blackout; Protest leaders require time for consultation MUZAFFARABAD Negotiations between the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and a federal government team temporarily stalled on Thursday, despite high-level efforts to defuse the ongoing crisis in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The federal delegation, comprising senior political […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-506530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n