Bar assures legal aid for individuals involved in violence if they surrender before law enforcement
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday warned individuals involved in disturbing peace, violence, damaging government property and causing loss of human lives to immediately surrender and present themselves before the law, while assuring full legal assistance to those who do so.
Tensions have been rising in AJK following recent deadly clashes that have led to competing narratives over casualties, governance grievances, and political legitimacy. Official sources have confirmed at least seven deaths.
Officials said that despite claims of peaceful intent, certain elements have continued to engage in violent activities. The same elements, they added, have previously been involved in damaging public property and attacks that resulted in the martyrdom and injuries of security personnel.
Read: AJK reinstates 177 FIRs against JAAC members over breach of Oct ’25 agreement
In a statement issued by AJK SCBA President Raja Aftab Ahmed Advocate, it said that those involved in armed attacks and acts undermining public order must surrender without delay.
He said, “Individuals involved in disturbing peace, launching armed attacks, damaging government property, and causing loss of human lives must immediately surrender and present themselves before the law.”
He added that those challenging the writ of the state were not only endangering human lives but were also committing a grave offence equivalent to treason. He urged such individuals to hand themselves over to the authorities, adding that the Bar would provide complete legal assistance to them in the courts of Azad Kashmir.
Background
The recent unrest and deadly clashes in areas, including Rawalakot, where the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had been holding a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead and around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account, claiming security forces used tear gas and fired shells toward the hospital.
According to the AJK police, three individuals linked to the JAAC and four law enforcement personnel were killed during the protests on Sunday. JAAC, however, said in a statement on X that seven individuals were killed and dozens were injured when street firing was carried out in the dark after electricity was allegedly cut off.
The clash on Sunday came as the AJK government and the JAAC witnessed a face-off, as the election date for AJK was announced for July 27.
Read More: Certain elements seeking to create instability in AJK despite repeated offers of dialogue: Rana Sanaullah
AJK’s 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) — an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.
The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.
The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had presented a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.
Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 core and 13 additional points. Under the accord, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.
Read More: Four police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police
The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence resolution against then Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joining the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.
On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes in the election and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
With elections now approaching and the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost every major party attended — except PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.
The JAAC’s position is that the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30, so attending would be futile. It had proposed either keeping symbolic refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved, or replacing the 12 assembly seats with 4 seats in the AJK Council — a body chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir cause.
The APC rejected any changes outside the constitutional and legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could alter refugee seat arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution “a page and a half of utterly trivial lines” and accused participants of gathering to serve their own interests rather than the public’s.