MUZAFFARABAD: Protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) entered their third consecutive day on Wednesday, with shutter-down strike and wheel-jam protests continuing across the region.
Markets and public transport remained closed, while attendance in government offices remained negligible. Private schools also stayed shut in all districts.
The demonstrations are being held on the call of the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which on Tuesday announced its next plan of action, calling for a long march towards the capital Muzaffarabad.
PM Shehbaz signals talks with JAAC amid shutter-down strike in AJK
The announcement was made by JAAC leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir during a speech to protesters and later shared through an audio message on the group’s official Facebook page.
On talks with authorities, Mir said: “There will be no negotiations with the state until internet and mobile services are restored, Rangers are withdrawn, and those responsible for the Muzaffarabad killings are arrested.”
Earlier, AJK Minister Faisal Rathore had extended an invitation to the JAAC for dialogue, saying: “On behalf of the AJK government, I openly invite the JAAC for talks. The state is in crisis, but we assure the public that their lives and property will be protected.”
He said that peace in the region was vital, stressing that lockdowns were a “Modi tradition” and that no issue could be resolved without dialogue.
On Tuesday, large numbers of protesters poured into cities including Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Kotli, Bhimber, Mirpur, Neelum Valley, and Dadyal, staging sit-ins at key connecting points.
Demonstrators also gathered at the Azad Pattan bridge linking Poonch Division with Punjab, and at Bararkot, which connects Muzaffarabad with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Local journalists reported intermittent clashes between police and protesters in Muzaffarabad’s Chhatar Domel, Bank Road, and Bela Noor Shah areas, where police used tear gas to disperse crowds.
The JAAC had called for a state-wide strike on September 29 to protest the government’s failure to meet its demands and implement last December’s agreement.
Four days earlier, on September 25, federal ministers Amir Maqam and Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry had held marathon talks with JAAC leaders in Muzaffarabad, but negotiations ended without result. Protest leaders reaffirmed their strike call, after which mobile and internet services were suspended across AJK — a ban that remains in place.
Clashes with ‘Peace Rally’
Tensions flared when protesters gathered near Neelum Bridge at the same time a “Peace Rally” by the Muslim Conference was passing through. The party had announced the rally two days before the JAAC protest.
Eyewitness Sabeel Ahmed said that a clash broke out between rally participants and JAAC protesters, during which shots were fired.
The JAAC later claimed that more than a dozen of its activists were injured and one killed by gunfire from the “Peace Rally.”
Authorities did not confirm the fatality for several hours and issued no immediate statement. Addressing hundreds of demonstrators in Lal Chowk, Shaukat Nawaz Mir held security officials responsible for the attack and shooting.