Key Takeaways
- Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) decided to establish a Kashmir peace jirga.
- The initiative aims to facilitate dialogue between the AJK government and the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
- JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman chaired the meeting that took this decision.
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has decided to establish a ‘grand’ Kashmir peace jirga, aimed at facilitating dialogue between the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s central Majlis-i-Shura chaired by JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman in Mansoorah, Lahore.
According to a press release, the jirga will engage both the government and the JAAC with restoring peace and resolving issues in AJK identified as its top priorities. To oversee this initiative, Rehman constituted a committee headed by JI Deputy Emir Liaqat Baloch. The committee includes JI AJK Emir Dr Muhammad Mushtaq Khan and former regional chiefs Abdul Rashid Turabi and Dr Khalid Mahmood.
The Shura expressed ‘deep concern’ over the prevailing situation in AJK, warning that continued unrest could adversely affect the broader Kashmir cause. Rehman stated, “No compromise can be made on the Kashmir issue,” asserting that countless Pakistanis and Kashmiris had sacrificed their lives for it. He urged the federal government to initiate negotiations without delay to restore normalcy in the region.
Addressing the meeting, Rehman described Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein, urging that the state should act like a ‘caring guardian by embracing aggrieved citizens instead of allowing tensions to escalate’. Referring to security challenges in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he cautioned that Pakistan could not afford another internal conflict in AJK. He announced that the expanded committee would soon visit Rawalakot to meet JAAC leaders and make every possible effort to bring the situation under control through dialogue.
Commenting on the controversy surrounding the 12 reserved seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly, Rehman said some concerns of the protesters were legitimate. However, he stressed that the “representation of refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the occupied territory itself in the assembly could not be abolished”. He said the issue of the reserved seats should be resolved through negotiations and expressed confidence that a workable solution could be found.
The regional administration and the JAAC remain at odds over various issues, most notably the committee’s demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan. Rehman emphasized that further violence must be prevented at all costs.
Dialogue is the only viable way to resolve the ongoing crisis and prevent further deterioration of the situation.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, JI Emir
No compromise can be made on the Kashmir issue. Countless Pakistanis and Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives for it.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, JI Emir
