Islamabad: Shops and markets remained closed on Tuesday in different parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after a protest call by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), as over 20 people have reportedly been killed in recent police action in the region.
About 2,000 protestors associated with the JAAC launched a protest march from Bhimber and they would reach Mirpur for onward travel to Muzaffarabad, BBC Urdu reported.
It added that some protesters would reach Rawalakot and then proceed to Muzaffarabad. Police and security forces personnel are patrolling the roads and other areas.
JAAC has been staging protests demanding subsidised flour and electricity. The group was outlawed on Friday by authorities, citing concerns over public order and security.
The streets in Muzaffarabad were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads, Dawn reported.
It added that riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city. However, no protests were witnessed in the city.
It reported that hundreds of people had gathered in the Quaid-i-Azam stadium of Mirpur, another major town of PoK.
“Shops are closed here, and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone.
The legal fraternity of PoK boycotted judicial proceedings on the Bar Council’s call to protest the alleged arrest of senior lawyer Amjad Ali Khan, a core member of the JAAC.
Pakistan’s human rights body on Monday said that it was “deeply alarmed” by the ongoing violence in PoK during violent clashes.
Authorities on Tuesday announced a reward for those who helped in the arrest of the key leaders of the JAAC.
According to an official notification, a “Rs 10 million reward money” will be given to any person who provides information leading to the successful arrest of the central leaders of the JAAC, including Shaukat Nawaz Mir, Omar Nazir Kashmiri, Sardar Aman and Khawaja Mehran.
The notification states that the identity of those who provide information that helps in the arrest of the wanted persons will be kept confidential.
Meanwhile, “PoK’s Prime Minister” Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days.
Rathore also acknowledged that while some of the demands of protesters, particularly related to refugee seats, require careful review, the solution must come through discussion rather than confrontation.
The JAAC has long been demanding the abolition of 12 “refugee seats” in the PoK Legislative Assembly. The seats are reserved for refugees from Kashmir who settled in Pakistan after 1947.
