THE unrest over the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JKJAAC) demands took a bloody turn on Wednesday, with at least nine people killed in clashes with law enforcers — including three policemen — and over a hundred injured.
Talks between the JKJAAC, the AJK Government and Federal Ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week. Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement.
Azad Kashmir is rightly considered as a base camp of the legitimate freedom struggle of Kashmiri people but irrespective of the motives the disturbances send an unfortunate message across the Line of Control (LoC). Apart from loss of precious lives, protests, strikes and wheel jams are disrupting peace and normal life. One must recollect remarks of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Sindh, who said recently the AJK will one day proclaim “I am India”. Conspiracy theories and blackmailing tactics should have alerted the government to take prompt notice of the unrest but it is guilty of adopting a lackluster approach to the problem. There is no doubt that the protest leadership is also adopting an extreme stance, as they continued their agitation despite the government’s claim of having accepted 90% of their demands. As per available version of the situation, there are only two unfulfilled demands and these too can be addressed in a satisfactory manner provided the two sides show flexibility and sit across the negotiating table to sort out differences.
