Traders to resume business activities in Muzaffarabad from Sunday, distance themselves from JAAC

MUZAFFARABAD: Traders and transporters in Muzaffarabad division announced on Saturday that markets and public transport would resume normal operations from Sunday after the administration assured them of security and uninterrupted fuel supplies, signalling the first major break in the shutdown observed during the ongoing agitation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). At a joint press conference at Central Press Club, representatives of traders’ bodies and the transporters’ union also distanced themselves from the recently proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). They alleged that the movement, which they had initially backed over public issues such as subsidised electricity and flour, had deviated from its original objectives after June 9 and was now pursuing a political and constitutional agenda beyond the mandate of traders and transporters. The regional administration and the JAAC have been at odds over the past month over various issues, most notably the committee’s 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. The resulting situation from the JAAC sit-ins had brought various parts of the region to a standstill earlier this month. Saturday’s press conference was addressed by Gohar Kashmiri, senior vice chairman of the Markazi Anjuman-i-Tajiran Muzaffarabad; Raja Abrar Mustafa, president of the Madina Market Traders Association; and Khawaja Azam Rasool, president of the Divisional Transport Operators Union. They were joined by office-bearers of several other trade bodies, including Banaras Zaman Bhatti of the Barbers and Beauticians Association and Raja Asif of the Poultry Dealers Association. They urged protesters to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue, appealed to traders to reopen their businesses and called for the restoration of internet services to facilitate commercial activity. As news of the announcement spre