AJK govt bans Joint Awami Action Committee under Anti-Terrorism Act
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Friday declared the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organisation and placed it under the First Schedule of the region’s Anti-Terrorism Act 2014. The notification by AJK’s Home Department said the group is “engaged in terrorism” and has acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state. It further stated that JAAC is involved in “creating anarchy in the state by intimidating public, promoting hatred and creating a sense of insecurity in society and public at large etc”. “Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred under section 12 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014, the President, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has accorded approval to list the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC), also known by names such as Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and Awami Action Committee (AAC) etc, in the First Schedule of ATA, 2014, Proscribed Organization for the purpose of the said Act.” The government took the measure following a strike call by the group for June 9. The group’s latest protest call centres on a highly contentious demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. JAAC alleged that these seats are frequently used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad. On Thursday, the AJK Legislative Assembly strongly defended the status quo, backing the refugee seats and calling for elections to proceed on schedule. Anxious to prevent a repeat of past bloodshed, Islamabad dispatched federal paramilitary forces to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police force. On Thursday, AJK Inspector General of Police Captain (retired) Liaqat Ali Malik formally requested 14,000 additional personnel from the federal government to secure the territory from June 7 to June 21. Video footage circula