PM Shehbaz meets President Zardari, discusses G-B polls and AJK situation

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari discussed the recent Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections and the restive situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in a meeting on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the President’s House, the two leaders also discussed national security, the economy, the upcoming federal budget and the regional situation.

“The discussions also covered the recent G-B elections, the law and order situation in AJK, and other matters of national importance,” the statement said.

The statement added that, while discussing budget proposals and public relief measures, President Zardari stressed the need to prioritise public welfare, provincial rights and economic stability in the upcoming federal budget.

“The president directed that full efforts be made to align the growth rate and public welfare schemes in the upcoming budget,” it said.

During the meeting, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi briefed the president on his recent visit to Iran and the latest regional diplomatic engagements.

Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah attended the meeting.

Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Rathore and other political leaders were also present.

The meeting came in the wake of deadly clashes in AJK’s Rawalakot, where the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had been holding a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead and around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account, claiming security forces used tear gas and fired shells toward the hospital.

According to the AJK police, three individuals linked to the JAAC and four law enforcement personnel were killed during the protests on Sunday. JAAC, however, said in a statement on X that seven individuals were killed and dozens were injured when street firing was carried out in the dark after electricity was allegedly cut off.

The clash on Sunday came as the AJK government and the JAAC witnessed a face-off, as the election date for AJK was announced for July 27.

AJK’s 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) — an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.

The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had presented a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 core and 13 additional points. Under the accord, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Read More: Four police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police

The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence resolution against then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joining the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.

On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes in the election and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections now approaching and the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost every major party attended — except PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.

The JAAC’s position is that the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30, so attending would be futile. It had proposed either keeping symbolic refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved, or replacing the 12 assembly seats with 4 seats in the AJK Council — a body chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir cause.

The APC rejected any changes outside the constitutional and legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could alter refugee seat arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution “a page and a half of utterly trivial lines” and accused participants of gathering to serve their own interests rather than the public’s.

The JAAC called a major protest for June 9 in Muzaffarabad, with caravans converging from across the region.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday rejected claims that the agreement with the JAAC had remained unimplemented, and said the government had fulfilled the vast majority of its commitments in AJK.