Skip to main content

JAAC strike: Markets, streets deserted in AJK's Muzaffarabad but no demonstrations held

MUZAFFARABAD: Shops and markets were largely shut and vehicular traffic remained minimal in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday as the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) observed a strike.

Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days.

During the day, Muzaffarabad’s streets were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads.

Meanwhile, riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city.

However, no demonstrations were witnessed in the capital city.

Meanwhile, reports from Mirpur said that hundreds of people had gathered in the town’s Quaid-i-Azam stadium. “Shops are closed here and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone.

The legal fraternity of AJK boycotted judicial proceedings on AJK Bar Council’s call to protest the alleged arrest of senior lawyer Amjad Ali Khan, a core member of the JAAC.

JAAC’s protest call for today centres on a highly contentious 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. JAAC alleges that these seats were often used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad.

The government, on the other hand, maintains that it is a constitutional matter and cannot be decided by one group.

On Friday, the AJK government declared JAAC 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.

But 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.

More to follow



from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/XdI5Nlc
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more