Says at a time when worldwide consideration is concentrated on Pakistan, unrest in AJK damaging Pakistan’s fame
Pakistan Peoples Celebration Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari delivers a video tackle on the get together’s 58th basis day, Sunday, Nov 30, 2025. Photograph: Categorical
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Peoples Celebration (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday appealed on to protesters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), urging them to finish their demonstrations peacefully and convey their protest actions to a “peaceable conclusion”.
In a press launch, Bilawal stated the “imminent signing of the Islamabad accord marks a historic second, including that at a time when worldwide highlight is firmly on Pakistan, the continued unrest in AJK is damaging each the Kashmiri trigger and Pakistan’s fame”.
Tensions have been rising in AJK following current lethal clashes which have led to competing narratives over casualties, governance grievances, and political legitimacy. Official sources have confirmed at the very least seven deaths.
He warned that the scenario can be creating an “pointless alternative” for hostile actors and the “India-Israel nexus” to use developments for their very own functions.
Chairman PPP @BBhuttoZardari says that imminent signing of the Islamabad accord marks a historic second, including that at a time when the worldwide highlight is firmly on Pakistan, the continued unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir is damaging each the Kashmiri trigger and Pakistan’s… pic.twitter.com/5GQkkhSU54
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) June 14, 2026
The PPP chairman known as on those that have taken the regulation into their very own palms to give up to native authorities and permit due course of to take its course.
He confused that every one political grievances and disagreements have to be resolved via “democratic, constitutional and peaceable means,” saying Parliament and the political course of, not the streets, are the suitable boards for resolving such points.
Bilawal famous that the PPP has already known as on the Election Fee to withdraw its “untimely election schedule,” reiterating the get together’s dedication to pursuing a political answer.
He stated the get together would search to ascertain a Fact and Reconciliation Fee to deal with excellent grievances and transfer the method in the direction of a “simply and lasting conclusion,” including that the individuals of Kashmir shouldn’t be subjected to repeated cycles of protest and uncertainty.
He added that if all stakeholders, together with the federal authorities, are in settlement, the AJK authorities may evaluate notifications issued in relation to protesting events at an applicable time.
Reiterating a steadiness between accountability and equity, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated there might be no compromise on the rule of regulation or on holding illegal actors accountable, however confused that people who’ve performed nothing flawed should not endure the results of others’ actions.
Learn: AJK SC Bar Affiliation warns violators of peace, requires instant give up
In the meantime, the PPP Azad Kashmir core committee has demanded that the Election Fee withdraw the present election schedule, calling for instant consultations in mild of the prevailing scenario.
Addressing a press convention, PPP Azad Kashmir President Chaudhry Yasin stated that “saving the state is the highest precedence” within the present circumstances, stressing that the get together’s politics has all the time revolved across the Kashmir problem.
He recalled that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto highlighted the Kashmir trigger on the world degree, whereas including that over the previous seven months, efforts have been made to resolve public points and restore democratic processes.
Chaudhry Yasin stated that whereas safety personnel have been martyred, civilians have been additionally affected by the evolving scenario. He criticised the hurried announcement of the schedule for migrant seats, saying it was issued solely days earlier than the protest name, which was not applicable.
He famous that in negotiations, most calls for of the Public Motion Committee had been accepted, claiming that “37 out of 38 calls for” have been already applied, whereas solely the constitutional matter of migrant seats remained beneath dialogue.
He stated different constitutional and authorized choices exist relating to migrant illustration, and added {that a} one-week extension was sought from the committee however was not accepted. Within the present scenario, he stated, holding elections on migrant seats seems tough.
Chaudhry Yasin urged the Election Fee to withdraw the schedule and proceed the session course of, saying PPP is just not in favour of confrontation or battle. He warned that hostile forces, together with India, may benefit from the scenario.
He confused that “12 migrant seats will not be extra invaluable than human lives,” including that options have to be discovered via dialogue, political consensus and democratic course of. He additionally pointed to rising shortages of important items in Azad Kashmir, saying the area is going through severe uncertainty.
Different senior leaders current included former Prime Minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan, Info Secretary Javed Ayub, Senior Minister Mian Wahid, Javed Budhanvi, Sardar Zia-ul-Qamar, Chaudhry Qasim Majeed and Yasir Sultan.
AJK protests
The current unrest and lethal clashes in areas, together with Rawalakot, the place the newly proscribed Joint Awami Motion Committee (JAAC) had been holding a sit-in outdoors the Mixed Navy Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened hearth on deployed regulation enforcement in a deliberate assault, leaving 4 personnel lifeless and round 20 injured. JAAC, nevertheless, disputes this account, claiming safety forces used tear fuel and fired shells towards the hospital.
In accordance with the AJK police, three people linked to the JAAC and 4 regulation enforcement personnel have been killed in the course of the protests on Sunday. JAAC, nevertheless, stated in a press release on X that seven people have been killed and dozens have been injured when road firing was carried out in the dead of night after electrical energy was allegedly minimize off.
The conflict on Sunday got here because the AJK authorities and the JAAC witnessed a face-off, because the election date for AJK was introduced for July 27.
Learn Extra: Sure components in search of to create instability in AJK regardless of repeated gives of dialogue: Rana Sanaullah
AJK’s 53-member legislative meeting contains 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — individuals who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and at the moment are scattered throughout Pakistan. Six seats characterize refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 individuals) and 6 from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 individuals) — an already lopsided association that many see as unfair.
The area witnessed considered one of its most turbulent intervals in October final 12 months when protests led by the JAAC erupted over calls for for constitutional and governance reforms. At the very least 9 individuals, together with three policemen, have been killed in the course of the unrest.
The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had introduced a wide-ranging constitution of calls for, together with an finish to the privileges loved by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 meeting seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.
Two days after the violence, the federal government and the JAAC reached an settlement overlaying 12 core and 13 extra factors. Underneath the accord, each side agreed to represent a high-level committee to look at the difficulty of refugee seats within the AJK Legislative Meeting.
Learn Extra: 4 police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police
The unrest additionally triggered political upheaval within the area. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence decision towards then Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz becoming a member of the trouble. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, selected to face the vote quite than resign.
On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes within the election and have become the sixteenth prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
With elections now approaching and the refugee seat problem nonetheless unresolved, the AJK authorities convened an All Events Convention (APC) in Muzaffarabad to construct consensus. Virtually each main get together attended — besides PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.
The JAAC’s place is that the federal government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on Could 30, so attending can be futile. It had proposed both holding symbolic refugee illustration till the Kashmir dispute is completely resolved, or changing the 12 meeting seats with 4 seats within the AJK Council — a physique chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would higher protect the political dimension of the Kashmir trigger.
The APC rejected any modifications outdoors the constitutional and legislative framework, saying solely the elected meeting may alter refugee seat preparations. The JAAC known as the decision “a web page and a half of completely trivial strains” and accused individuals of gathering to serve their very own pursuits quite than the general public’s.
