Abdul Basit Alvi
Distrust in Azad Jammu and Kashmir is linked to a small but organized group that allegedly used social media manipulation, propaganda, and genuine public grievances to create an impression of widespread support that did not reflect reality, deepening divisions within society and straining relations between the state and its citizens. The Rawalakot protests involved only a small fraction of AJK’s population of about four million, with fewer than 40,000 participants at peak attendance and around 10,000–15,000 overall, while more than five times that number reportedly traveled from Rawalakot to Rawalpindi on June 6 and 7. Many families moved weddings to Rawalpindi and Islamabad, sick people and schoolchildren left the town, and hundreds of families delayed school and college admissions until August because of the disruption. Most residents stayed away from the protests to protect their families, forming a “silent majority,” while around 99 percent of people in other districts are seen not to support the protesters’ agenda. Large political rallies in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Dhirkot, and Bhimbar are regarded as demonstrating stronger support for the constitutional political process than for the Rawalakot sit-in. Around 10,000–15,000 protesters are responsible for disrupting daily life, damaging the economy, creating fear and uncertainty, and causing disorder over an issue considered resolvable through legislation, dialogue, and democratic institutions. The movement is also involved in using manipulated images, fake news, emotional appeals, and support from a few journalists acting as propagandists to create the impression that all of Azad Kashmir supports it, even though the participants are said to account for less than 10 percent of Rawalakot’s population. The government has addressed numerous demands by reducing electricity and flour prices, abolishing refugee ministries, reducing the number of ministers, halving the property transfer tax, completing the Rathwa Hariyam Bridge, withdrawing FIRs and legal cases, compensating the families of those killed and 56 injured people, providing a government job to Azhar’s brother, approving a Rs. 5.5 billion PC-1 for MRI facilities, approving a Rs. 9 billion PC-1 to improve the power transmission system, applying to make Azad Kashmir Bank a scheduled bank, restoring the health card, establishing two new education boards, including the Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, and Mangla expressways in CPEC, announcing Mirpur Airport and beginning feasibility work, abolishing the quota system, merging government departments, approving e-tendering for electricity meters, and approving a 30 KVA electricity supply for schools and colleges. The remaining demand for four tunnels and bridges is acknowledged, but immediate implementation is impossible because one tunnel alone is estimated to cost around Rs. 10 billion while the total development budget of Azad Kashmir is less than Rs. 40 billion, requiring long-term planning, feasibility studies, environmental assessments, and substantial financial resources.
After the approval of numerous demands, continued insistence on the remaining demand and the blockade of the region is questioned as unreasonable. The banned Joint Action Committee is involved in abandoning peaceful protest and preparing for violent confrontation by positioning armed teams with SMG guns and military-grade binoculars to monitor security forces, while one of its leaders reportedly acknowledged the supply of US-made M4 rifles to troublemakers. The group is further involved in spreading fake and AI-generated videos and posts to manipulate public opinion and manufacture support. Its activities are responsible for disrupting businesses, closing schools, creating insecurity, and using the Rawalakot sit-in stage to deliver speeches against Pakistan, the state, the Pakistan Army, and public institutions. Rather than participating in elections and pursuing legislative change through democratic means, the banned JAAC is involved in rejecting the electoral process and embracing violence, while the people of AJK are participating in election campaigns and democratic politics, with strong voter turnout has been seen as support for constitutional democracy and rejection of confrontation, violence, and disorder.
The banned JAAC wants to sabotage the elections and the will of the people of AJK, because they know that a free and fair election would expose their complete lack of popular support and their irrelevance in the political landscape. The issue of refugees and 12 seats is purely a constitutional matter, a complex legal question that should be resolved through the proper constitutional channels, and the banned JAAC has spread distrust in AJK just for a constitutional issue that could have been easily addressed through dialogue and parliamentary debate. To speak against the State, Pakistan, the Pak Army, and Institutions and to kill the LEAs is not a movement for people’s rights, it is insurgency and rebellion, a direct attack on the authority of the state and its ability to maintain law and order. Even the majority of people of the Poonch district are not with this violent movement, and the false claim that the entire district is behind the protestors is a blatant lie designed to create an illusion of unity where none exists.
The banned JAAC is doing violence in AJK and has made an environment of fear and distrust in AJK, turning neighbor against neighbor and destroying the social fabric of the community. The banned JAAC has transformed into a security risk for the State and the country, a threat that must be dealt with decisively to protect the territorial integrity and national security of Pakistan. They have weapons, and they attack and target the LEAs and public properties, engaging in acts of arson, destruction, and murder that are the hallmarks of a terrorist organization. The real intention of the banned JAAC is to get dead bodies to ignite the fire in AJK and to motivate people against the State, a tactic of provocation that is designed to create a cycle of violence that will destabilize the entire region.
The people of AJK are not with the banned JAAC, and they have made their position clear through their actions and their silence, for people are with Pakistan and the Pak Army, the institutions that have always stood with them in their times of need. People love Pakistan, the Pak Army, and institutions, and they have a deep and abiding affection for the state that has provided them with security, development, and a democratic identity. The people of AJK love peace, and they yearn for a return to normalcy, whereas a group of violent riots intends to destroy the peace of AJK, to plunge it into chaos for their own selfish political gains. The dirty intentions of the banned JAAC have opened the eyes of the people of AJK, and the people are now fully aware of the malevolent forces that are at work, seeking to exploit their grievances and lead them down a path of destruction. The banned JAAC is also involved in getting Indian support, a treasonous act that is completely against the national interest, and even analysts and people say that the banned JAAC has got support from terrorist groups like TTP and Fitna al Khwarij, a serious allegation that links them to the worst enemies of Pakistan. The people of AJK are now looking towards the government to make normalcy in AJK immediately and to get rid of the peace of AJK from a group of riots, and they have complete faith that the government will take all necessary measures to restore peace, to bring the perpetrators of violence to justice, and to ensure that the voice of the silent majority is heard and respected, and that the constitutional and democratic process will be allowed to flourish, unhindered by the threat of violence and intimidation.
