- Sanaullah rejects claims refugee seats used for rigging.
- PML-N leader reiterating right to peaceful assembly.
- JAAC sought AJK govt’s exclusion from talks: AJK PM.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday claimed that external elements were financing the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), saying the banned outfit rejected multiple offers aimed at peaceful resolution of disputes.
Speaking on Geo News‘ programme ‘Jirga’, Sanaullah said that the banned outfit had never before demanded the abolishment of 12 refugee seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Assembly.
“They [JAAC] made the demand in October 2025 along with the other 38 demands and agreed to the formation of a committee on this matter,” he said.
The AJK government on June 5 declared JAAC a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), saying the group was engaged in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days ahead of the banned outfit’s planned June 9 protest seeking the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
Speaking during today’s programme, Sanaullah said that the banned JAAC had raised a new demand this time, seeking the removal of the declaration stating that Kashmir would accede to Pakistan after independence, from the undertaking required to be signed for the AJK Assembly elections.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that external actors, including members of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom, were financing the banned outfit, he added.
According to the PML-N leader, the federal government offered a range of options to the banned outfit to resolve the dispute over refugee seats, including a referendum, an all-parties conference, and referring the matter to the AJK Assembly for a decision.
However, the proscribed JAAC rejected all the options, insisting on continuing with its June 9 protest, he said.
Sanaullah rejected allegations that refugee seats were used for rigging, saying the seats are reserved for those who have migrated from IIOJK.
“If you take out the refugees from the Jammu Valley, what becomes of your movement for IIOJK’s freedom?” he asked.
Reiterating the public’s right to peaceful assembly, Sanaullah said that no one has the right to take up arms and occupy Islamabad or Muzaffarabad.
AJK situation ‘not good’
Separately, 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 certainly not say that the situation in Azad Kashmir is good,” he said in an interview with Geo News.
Rathore maintained that lives lost during JAAC’s protests carried immense human cost and could not be disregarded.
Referring to past negotiations with JAAC, he said that lives were also lost during earlier talks with the banned outfit.
According to the AJK premier, the banned outfit did not pay heed to his remarks in the past and sought to excluded 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 previous understanding with the banned outfit, he said that commitments made by the AJK government had been fulfilled.
