ISLAMABAD, AUG 2: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday welcomed the willingness of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a group banned by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government, to engage with the party’s proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In a post on X, Bilawal said he received JAAC’s response to his letter proposing the establishment of the commission, along with the group’s accompanying proposal.
His remarks came amid a surge in violence linked to ongoing sit-ins and protests in parts of AJK ahead of the second phase of elections in Muzaffarabad Division for the region’s 53-member Legislative Assembly.
Bilawal said every loss of life was a national tragedy and stressed that his immediate priority was to help end the current crisis, provide relief and restore normal life for the people of AJK as quickly as possible.
He welcomed the banned JAAC’s readiness to engage with the proposed commission, which has already been endorsed by the AJK Legislative Assembly, and said he would study the group’s proposal carefully.
He described the commission as a possible institutional mechanism for moving the situation forward through dialogue and consensus.
The PPP chairman further said he would consult the AJK prime minister, who would in turn engage the federal government and other relevant stakeholders to gauge their initial views and determine whether sufficient common ground exists to advance a consensus-based proposal.
The AJK government on June 5 declared JAAC a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), alleging the group was involved in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days before the outfit’s planned June 9 protest demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK Assembly reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
Last month, expressing concern over violent protests in AJK, Bilawal called for the formation of a high-powered Truth and Reconciliation Commission with full authority to investigate recent developments in accordance with state laws.
He said law enforcement agencies should conduct inquiries strictly within the legal framework.
The PPP chairman also urged politicians in Pakistan and AJK, as well as protest participants, to reflect on their conduct. He said the Pakistani armed forces were a red line for his party and warned that rhetoric directed against them would not be tolerated.
Bilawal said statements emerging from AJK against the Pakistan Army were unacceptable and reiterated that the PPP would never tolerate anti-state narratives.
He added that violent protests could not be permitted under any circumstances and that constitutional amendments could not be imposed through sit-ins or at gunpoint, warning against allowing the politics of terrorism to take root in Kashmir.
He maintained that Kashmir would decide its own future and that no one else could make that decision, while adding that the voting rights of refugees could be protected.
He also reiterated his support for a peaceful resolution of issues concerning Kashmir and said no individual or group could ever subdue the state.
