{"id":1268,"date":"2026-06-11T15:36:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=1268"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:36:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:36:54","slug":"khawaja-asif-urges-jaac-to-let-ajk-voters-decide-refugee-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/khawaja-asif-urges-jaac-to-let-ajk-voters-decide-refugee-seats\/","title":{"rendered":"Khawaja Asif urges JAAC to let AJK voters decide refugee seats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: As tensions persist in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday urged the now proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to let the people of the region decide whether the 12 refugee seats should be abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regional administration and the JAAC remain at odds over various issues, most notably the committee\u2019s demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region\u2019s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the defence minister called on the JAAC to raise the issue in the upcoming elections, scheduled for July 27, and \u201ctake the issue to the public\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He questioned why the group was intent on deciding the issue pre-emptively, suggesting that it might be an attempt to shape the assembly \u201cas per their will\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asif noted that Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan had paid a \u201cheavy price\u201d to migrate to the country, and that the JAAC had no right to demand the \u201ctaking away of their right to vote\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe AJK that we have today is due to the sacrifices made by the Pakistan armed forces and people from across the country, not just Kashmiris,\u201d the defence minister said, asserting that 250 million Pakistanis had a \u201cstake\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He held that there was a story in every Pakistani household of the sacrifices made for the disputed region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes that mean nothing? I do not want to take names, but what have they sacrificed for Kashmir? They do not have any stake, nor have they invested anything in the liberation of Kashmir,\u201d the defence minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defence czar warned that if people took the law into their own hands, the government could not be expected to \u201cstay silent\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also recalled that Kashmiri refugees in his constituency did not have access to basic facilities such as electricity and gas due to uncertainty surrounding their status. However, \u201cwe had their status finalised\u201d, he said, reiterating that the way forward was dialogue, not confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wonder if this hatred has been imported from across the line,\u201d Asif said, in an apparent reference to the Line of Control (LoC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He maintained that the group could not \u201ctake away the identity\u201d of Kashmiri refugees, advising that the matter should be resolved in the Legislative Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow could you exclude them from the electoral process?\u201d the defence minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asif remarked that the status \u201cAzad\u201d in AJK had been secured and protected by Pakistanis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe word Azad would not have been there if it were not for Pakistan,\u201d he said, adding that the armed forces stationed atop mountains protecting Kashmir were all Pakistanis, including Punjabis, Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: As tensions persist in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday urged the now proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to let the people of the region decide whether the 12 refugee seats should be abolished. The regional administration and the JAAC remain at odds over various issues, most notably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,16,2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest","category-national","category-pakisstan"],"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"afnanwasif","display_name":"Web Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbec8328241e98fefcd32e00f20f7a6b502086a0b95d395db4b1565c51681914?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Web","last_name":"Desk","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1269,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions\/1269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1268"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}