MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Home Secretary Chaudhry Guftar Hussain has alleged that the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) is using women, children, and students as human shields and promoting anti-Pakistan narratives.
Addressing a press conference along with AJK Police spokesperson DIG Irfan Masood Kashfi, Chaudhry accused the Action Committee of attempting to undermine the peace, stability, and statehood of AJK for the past several days.
He said that the banned organisation had been spreading fear, propaganda, blackmail, and incitement under the guise of protests, while slandering Pakistan’s armed forces and blocking roads.
The Home Department official said the government would continue taking measures to maintain law and order, protect the lives and property of citizens, and restore normalcy across the state.
He added that armed individuals had opened fire on law enforcement personnel in an attempt to destabilise the situation.
‘Elections to be held as per schedule’
Guftar further reaffirmed that the general elections in the state would be held on July 27 as per the schedule, assuring that the government would ensure free, transparent, and impartial polls. He added that no concession would be given to armed groups or those violating the law.
Speaking on the occasion, AJK Police Spokesperson DIG Irfan Masood Kashfi rejected the “misleading and false propaganda” being spread on social media following the recent firing by the armed groups of the banned Awami Action Committee, alleging that attempts were being made to portray armed individuals seen in videos as security personnel in civilian clothes.
He said police investigations and available evidence, including videos and photographs, indicated that the banned committee is resorting to tactics like distorting the facts. “The armed members of the banned JAAC had attacked law enforcement personnel.”
According to the police spokesperson, weapons had also been recovered from several leaders and workers associated with the banned committee, dozens of videos and photos of which came to light.
He added that the leaders of the banned committee had disappeared after inciting the public.
The spokesman said that AJK Police Constable Aqib was martyred in the firing by miscreants at Baithak, Baloch, on the Kotli-Tarakhal Road, while a Federal Constabulary official, two employees of the PWD department, and eight personnel of the AJK Police were injured.
He said that early in the morning, law enforcement agencies removed all the obstacles on the Shujaabad-Kotera Road and restored it for traffic, ensuring the safety of public life and property and the supply of essential goods.
