AJK remains shut for third straight day

MUZAFFARABAD: At least one person, who participated in a gathering organised by the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), was killed and four others injured in a clash with law enforcement personnel on the outskirts of Rawalakot on Thursday, as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) observed a complete shutter-down strike for the third consecutive day . An official told Dawn that thousands of protesters from Mirpur, Bhimber and Kotli districts in Mirpur Division, as well as Sudhnoti and parts of Poonch districts in Poonch Division, had converged on Eidgah Ground on the eastern outskirts of Rawalakot since Wednesday evening. Smaller groups of protesters had also gathered at two other locations on the southern and northern edges of the town. According to witnesses, Umar Nazir Kashmiri, a core JAAC member facing sedition charges, delivered a “highly provocative” speech to the gathering at Eidgah Ground. The speech was streamed live on social media despite the suspension of internet services by all major providers across AJK since Friday last week. Poonch Divisional Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan said law enforcement personnel were dispatched in the early hours of Thursday after authorities learnt of Kashmiri’s presence at the gathering. “However, when they were removing obstacles from the road, a group of protesters confronted them. In the ensuing exchange of fire, one protester was killed and four to five others were injured,” he said. The deceased activist was identified by fellow protesters as 32-year-old Sohban Arif, a resident of Gorah village in Sudhnoti district. Six-point petition During his speech, Kashmiri reportedly stated that negotiations with the government were possible and claimed he had submitted a six-point petition to the authorities to facilitate talks. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the demands included the withdrawal of the Home Department notification proscribing JAAC, the return of the bodies of all deceas