- Sanaullah rejects allegations of refugee seats being used for rigging.
- The PML-N leader reaffirms the right to peaceful assembly.
- JAAC demanded exclusion of AJK government from negotiations: AJK PM.
Prime Minister’s Advisor on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday alleged that outside elements were funding the banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), saying the banned group had rejected several offers to resolve differences peacefully.
Speaking on PK Press Club News‘Jirga’, Sanaullah said the banned outfit had never before demanded removal of 12 refugee seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Assembly.
“They [JAAC] made this request in October 2025 along with the other 38 requests and agreed to the formation of a committee on this issue,” he said.
On June 5, the AJK government declared the JAAC a banned organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), saying the group was engaged in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days before the banned group’s planned June 9 protest seeking removal of 12 seats in AJK reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
Speaking on today’s show, Sanaullah said the banned JAAC had this time raised a fresh demand, seeking removal of the declaration that Kashmir would accede to Pakistan after independence, from the pledge that was to be signed for the AJK Assembly elections.
After investigation, it was revealed that external actors, including members of the Pakistani diaspora in the UK, were funding the banned venture, he added.
According to the PML-N leader, the federal government has offered a series of options to the banned group to resolve the dispute over refugee seats, including a referendum, an all-party conference and referring the issue to the AJK Assembly for decision.
However, the banned JAAC rejected all options, insisting on continuing its June 9 protest, he said.
Sanaullah dismissed allegations that the refugee seats were used for manipulation, saying these seats were reserved for those who migrated from the IIOJK.
“If you eliminate the refugees from Jammu Valley, what becomes of your IIOJK freedom movement?” he asked.
Reiterating the right of the public to assemble peacefully, Sanaullah said no one has the right to take up arms and occupy Islamabad or Muzaffarabad.
AJK’s situation ‘not good’
Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said the situation in the region was not good, describing it as a test for the state.
“I will definitely not say that the situation in Azad Kashmir is good,” he said in an interview with PK Press Club News.
Rathore argued that the lives lost during the JAAC protests had an immense human cost and could not be ignored.
Referring to past negotiations with the JAAC, he said lives had also been lost in previous discussions with the banned group.
According to the AJK Prime Minister, the banned group disregarded his past remarks and sought to exclude the AJK government from the reconciliation process.
Rathore lamented that criticism was being directed at the AJK government despite the JAAC’s demand to negotiate only with the federal government.
Referring to an earlier agreement with the banned group, he said the commitments made by the AJK government had been fulfilled.
