Centre-JAAC talks end without success; June 9 strike to go ahead
• Prolonged agitation threatens AJK’s upcoming elections • Abolishing 12 assembly seats for Pakistan-based refugees remains key stumbling block • Govt says talks still on MUZAFFARABAD: Marathon talks between a federal ministerial team and the core leadership of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) ended without a breakthrough late on Saturday night, prompting the latter to announce that its June 9 strike would proceed as planned. The lengthy dialogue, convened to persuade the JAAC to withdraw its strike call and resolve differences over its charter of demands, stretched for more than nine hours with intermittent breaks. The outcome has heightened concerns over political stability in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where general elections are expected in the last week of July. “Today, we held talks with the representatives of the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir throughout the day on all issues, including the 12 refugee seats,” JAAC core member Shaukat Nawaz Mir told reporters after the talks ended at 11:20pm. “Despite the breach of trust, we had detailed discussions, and proposals were exchanged as well,” he said, adding that government representatives had requested them to postpone the planned strike. “But we have decided to keep our strike call intact,” he said. However, he added, the JAAC remained open to future engagement. The talks assumed added significance amid growing fears that any prolonged agitation could affect preparations for the upcoming elections. Although the election schedule has yet to be announced, political observers believe sustained unrest could complicate the polling process. The federal delegation included cabinet members Rana Sanaullah, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N, as well as former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and former minister Qamar Zaman Kaira representing the PPP. AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, PPP regional president Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin,...
Original source: Dawn Pakistan