PM Anwarul Haq says 'deeply saddened by loss of lives' as AJK protests turn violent

Prime Minister of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Chaudhry Anwarul Haq said on Wednesday he was “deeply saddened by the loss of human lives” as three policemen were martyred and around 100 injured in violent protests across the region.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of human lives. Three policemen were martyred and 150 were injured. I said this will not remain peaceful. There is no one group in this; each area has its own group,” Anwarul Haq told a press conference at Kashmir House in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday evening.

Accompanied by Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, who is a federal minister in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet, Anwarul Haq said the AJK government was ready to resume negotiations to avert further violence. He invited people from Rawalakot as well to join the talks. He said the talks did not fail; they were just halted.

Speaking on the occasion, Tariq Fazal said the Public Action Committee had called for a peaceful protest on September 29. He said when the media highlighted this matter the prime minister asked him and Amir Muqam to join the talks and accept protesters’ legitimate demands. “We had a 12-hour long meeting with the Public Action Committee in Muzaffarabad and accepted 90 percent of its demands,” he said.

“We, as federal ministers, were guarantors that this agreement would be implemented,” Tariq Fazal said. He elaborated that these demands included closing police cases against the protesters, reinstating government employees who were suspended in the previous protest, wheat supplies and power tariff. He said that a written agreement was reached on the demands relating to local governments and cut in the number of AJK ministers.

He said there were two demands on which no progress was made: abolition of the refugee seats and cut in the number of ministers. These were the demands, which required an amendment to the constitution, he said. That is why it was said these demands would be addressed later. “We still invite the Awami Action Committee to talks,” he said. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was in London and he would meet the leaders of the Public Action Committee once he returns home.