Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed dismay over the \u201cunfortunate events\u201d in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in recent months, adding that, however, the law took its course.He was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad in which four AJK Council members \u2013 nominated by the AJK Legislative Assembly \u2013 were administered the oath by PM Shehbaz, who is the chairman of the council.Referring to the \u201cunfortunate events\u201d in recent months in AJK, he said: \u201cWe all regretted it, wished that they did not do that. We all tried to make them understand with utter seriousness\u201d.The premier did not name anyone specifically but was seemingly referring to protests by the now proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).The government and the JAAC have been at odds over various issues, most notably the committee\u2019s demand to abolish the 12 refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly, which resulted in violence-marred protests across the region.On June 5, the JAAC was declared a proscribed organisation by the regional government and placed under the First Schedule of the region\u2019s anti-terrorism act (ATA). A day later, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and later placing 147 of its activists on the Fourth Schedule of the ATA.In his address, PM Shehbaz recalled that an all-parties conference was held in Muzaffarabad where \u201ceveryone spoke freely, though they were absent\u201d.He said it was agreed during the meeting that after elections in the region, the new legislative assembly\u2019s decision or the law passed by it, through consensus or majority, would be respected \u2014 an apparent reference to a decision on refugee seats.\u201cBut, unfortunately, they did not accept this noble suggestion. Nevertheless, the law took its course. [\u2026] Pakistan had to fulfil its political and legal obligations given that forces were working against Pakistan and the Kashmir cause on a foreign agenda,\u201d the prime minister said.He also spoke about the four-day military conflict with India in May last year, saying that the Pakistani military, under the leadership of Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, had played a \u201chistorical role\u201d and taught the adversary \u201ca lesson that it can never forget\u201d.\u201cI, once again, pay tribute to Pakistan\u2019s armed forces and CDF Munir and congratulate them.\u201dAt the onset of his address, he congratulated the newly-elected members of the AJK Council.\u201cThis council is a bridge between Pakistan and AJK. It is my honour to have this opportunity to make this bridge stronger.\u201cWe will work harder for the progress of AJK and serve the people of AJK.\u201dHe also called on the AJK president and prime minister to fulfil their constitutional duties and resolve the public\u2019s issues.\u201cThe federal government will mobilise resources to support your development efforts,\u201d PM Shehbaz stated.The four council members sworn in today were former AJK Legislative Assembly speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar of the PPP from Muzaffarabad, former minister Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas of the PML-N from Bagh, former minister Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed of the PML-N from Mirpur, and Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed of the PML-N from Muzaffarabad.They were declared elected unopposed as no other candidate entered the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed dismay over the \u201cunfortunate events\u201d in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,4,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-newsbeat","category-public"],"yoast_head":"\n