The claim that the proposed long march by the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has been postponed due to negotiations is completely baseless and contrary to reality. The fact is that the public has rejected this call, and JAAC has failed to generate the necessary support and mobilisation required for the campaign.
The organisation currently lacks the public backing, organisational capacity, resources, and determination needed to launch a long march. Meanwhile, the clear and firm resolve of state institutions to take action against violent and disruptive elements has further highlighted the weaknesses of the proposed protest movement.
The sources revealed that, unable to openly acknowledge their failure, JAAC and its supporters are now attempting to create a self-serving and fabricated narrative to protect their image. Claims are being circulated that the march has been postponed due to negotiations or a possible compromise with the concerned parties.
These claims are being promoted by a few unreliable and unauthorised accounts and individuals who have neither a public mandate nor any legal authority to engage in negotiations. Therefore, any postponement of the long march should be viewed as a consequence of the organisation’s failure to secure public support, rather than as a concession granted by the state.
Earlier, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Home Secretary Chaudhry Guftar Hussain and Secretary Elementary and Secondary Education Qazi Inayat Ali, while addressing a joint press conference on the current situation in AJK, said that the banned JAAC has been engaged in disrupting peace and normal life in the region for the past 38 days.
They stated that, under the guise of protests for rights, the organisation has turned intimidation, blackmail, and propaganda into its main tactics. They further claimed that the group’s real objective is to promote an anti-Pakistan narrative and spread criticism against the country’s armed forces.
They said efforts were being made to damage the historic relationship between Pakistan and Kashmir. They alleged that forcibly closing markets by threatening traders and creating difficulties for citizens had become a routine practice of the organisation. They also accused the group of using students, women, and children as human shields and of pressuring students to join protests instead of focusing on their education.
The Home Secretary said that the people of AJK have rejected what he described as the “anarchic agenda” of disruptive elements. He added that normal life has been restored in most parts of the state, educational institutions have resumed operations, and state institutions remain fully prepared to deal with any acts of intimidation, blackmail, or unrest in accordance with the law.
Read more: Continued AJK unrest could hurt Kashmir cause, Pakistan’s image, says Bilawal Bhutto
