Islamabad police on Monday prevented the opposition alliance Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) from traveling to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to mediate the ongoing crisis, triggering a brief sit-in by the delegation before they returned to the capital.
Delegation Stopped Near Sihala
A TTAP delegation, including opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas, was stopped by Islamabad Police near Sihala area on the outskirts of Islamabad, said TTAP Vice Chairman Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former special assistant to prime minister on health Dr Zafar Mirza also accompanied them.
Addressing a press conference alongside other opposition leaders, Khokhar said the delegation had planned to meet protestors holding a sit-in in Rawalakot for the past many days and the leadership of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to hear their grievances. “We want a solution to the crisis through dialogue,” he stated.
Police Cite Higher Orders
Khokhar alleged that Islamabad Police, equipped with armoured vehicles and prison vans, established a checkpost and did not allow them to enter the boundary of AJK. According to Khokhar, the police had no answer except to say that higher authorities had ordered them not to allow the opposition leadership to go there. “We held a sit-in there, which caused mile-long queues of vehicles and troubles for commuters,” he added, noting that the situation forced them to return to Islamabad.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Achakzai said they had decided to play the role of mediation on the request of Kashmir-based organizations and human rights activists. He added that they had conveyed to the powers-that-be to allow them to visit AJK to find a solution to the matter.
Background of the Crisis
Earlier this month, violent clashes broke out in the region after the outlawed JAAC gave a protest call demanding abolishing seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees in the AJK Legislative Assembly and elite privileges. The JAAC leadership and its supporters had been holding a major protest sit-in in Rawalakot.
