As tensions persist in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday urged the now proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to let the people of the region decide whether the 12 refugee seats should be abolished. The regional administration and the JAAC remain at odds 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. Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the defence minister called on the JAAC to raise the issue in the upcoming elections, scheduled for July 27, and “take the issue to the public”. He questioned why the group was intent on deciding the issue pre-emptively, suggesting that it might be an attempt to shape the assembly “as per their will”. Asif noted that Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan had paid a “heavy price” to migrate to the country, and that the JAAC had no right to demand the “taking away of their right to vote”. “The AJK that we have today is due to the sacrifices made by the Pakistan armed forces and people from across the country, not just Kashmiris,” the defence minister said, asserting that 250 million Pakistanis had a “stake” in the region. He held that there was a story in every Pakistani household of the sacrifices made for the disputed region. “Does that mean nothing? I do not want to take names, but what have they sacrificed for Kashmir? They do not have any stake, nor have they invested anything in the liberation of Kashmir,” the defence minister said. The defence czar warned that if people took the law into their own hands, the government could not be expected to “stay silent”. He also recalled that Kashmiri refugees in his constituency did not have access to basic facilities such as electricity and gas due to uncertainty surrounding their status. However, “we had their status finalised”, he said, reiterating that the way forward was dialogue, not confrontation. “I wonder if this hatred has been imported from across the line,” Asif said, in an apparent reference to the Line of Control (LoC). He maintained that the group could not “take away the identity” of Kashmiri refugees, advising that the matter should be resolved in the Legislative Assembly. “How could you exclude them from the electoral process?” the defence minister said. Asif remarked that the status “Azad” in AJK had been secured and protected by Pakistanis. “The word Azad would not have been there if it were not for Pakistan,” he said, adding that the armed forces stationed atop mountains protecting Kashmir were all Pakistanis, including Punjabis, Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis. Unrest in AJK continues Earlier reports suggested that activists and supporters of the proscribed JAAC had reached the outskirts of Rawalakot from multiple directions, determined to proceed through the town towards the regional capital of Muzaffarabad. On Tuesday night, a large number of protesters from Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts, including the town of Dadyal, had managed to enter the territorial limits of Poonch district via Tatta Pani amid reported clashes with law enforcers. Several casualties were reported in the violence, but there was no official confirmation. On Wednesday, the protesters, who had stayed overnight at different locations in Hajira tehsil, resumed their journey towards Khaigalla, some 10 kilometres from Rawalakot, where another rally from Sudhnoti district joined them. Witnesses and official sources said that by evening, the crowd had reached Chehr Bazar and camped in the industrial area near the Eidgah, on the eastern side of the town. Another group of protesters from the Mang and Thorar areas of Poonch district had separately camped at the bus terminal on the southern side of the town. Bagh bölgesinden nispeten daha küçük üçüncü bir grup ise kuzeydeki Kotehri köyündeki bir liseye yerleşmişti. Bölge sakinleri, AJK'nin geri kalanı gibi Rawalakot'un da Çarşamba günü tamamen kapandığını, toplu taşımanın yollardan çekildiğini ve yalnızca ihmal edilebilir düzeyde özel trafiğin göründüğünü söyledi. Gün boyunca Rawalakot'ta cami hoparlörlerinden anonslar yapılarak vatandaşlara hareket kısıtlaması talimatı verildi ve kasabaya dışarıdan girmeye çalışan herkesin olası sonuçlardan sorumlu olacağı konusunda uyarılarda bulunuldu. Yerel kaynaklara göre, kolluk kuvvetleri şehre giden yolları kapattı ve protestocuların şehre girme girişimlerini engellemek için çeşitli yerlerde pozisyon aldı. Üst düzey bir hükümet yetkilisi Dawn'a, katı bir JAAC lideri olarak kabul edilen Umar Nazir Keşmiri'nin, durumu yatıştırmak amacıyla "karar alma makamlarına" "altı maddelik bir dilekçe" sunduğu bildirildi. Talepler arasında İçişleri Bakanlığı'nın gruba yönelik yasaklama yazısının geri çekilmesi, protestolar sırasında yaşanan ölümlere ilişkin koşullar ve bunlara ilişkin kaydedilen davalar, hareket kısıtlamalarının kaldırılması ve müzakerelerin başlatılması yer aldı. Dilekçede ayrıca, karara kadar hem kolluk kuvvetleri personelinin hem de protestocuların kendi yerlerinde kalmaları gerektiği belirtildi. Yetkili, JAAC liderinin yetkililere protestocuların ilerlemeyeceğine dair güvence verdiğini ekledi. İddiayı onaylayacak veya reddedecek hiçbir JAAC lideri mevcut değildi. Yasaklanmış Geçen Cuma, JAAC'ın 9 Haziran'daki grevinin duyurulmasının ardından AJK hükümeti, örgütün "terörizmle uğraştığını" ve devletin "barış ve güvenliğine zarar verecek" bir şekilde hareket ettiğini belirterek bu örgütü yasaklanmış bir örgüt ilan etti. Bir gün sonra AJK yetkilileri, JAAC'a yönelik bir baskı başlattı ve farklı bölgelerden çok sayıda lider ve aktivisti tutukladı. Sedition proceedings against two of its leaders have also been ordered, and a Rs10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four leaders has been announced. Bölgedeki gerginlikler özellikle Rawalakot'ta en az dört kolluk kuvveti personeli ve yedi sivilin hayatını kaybettiği şiddetli protesto sonrasında daha da alevlendi. İslamabad ayrıca bölgenin zayıf polis gücünü güçlendirmek için federal paramiliter güçler gönderdi ve ziyaretçilere gezilerini 20 Haziran'a kadar ertelemeleri tavsiye edildi.