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AJK Long March Put on Hold After Mediators Win One‑Week Pause

The pause shifts pressure onto officials to meet protesters' demands before a July 21–22 deadline that will affect PoJK's July 27 legislative vote.

Overview

  • The PoJK administration proscribed the Joint Awami Action Committee under the local Anti‑Terrorism Act on June 5, triggering raids and mass arrests in early June.
  • Clashes over a Supreme Court ruling on 12 refugee‑reserved legislative seats left at least 11 people dead on June 8 and contributed to more than 30 reported fatalities in the unrest.
  • JAAC leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir was arrested on June 30 and charged with sedition, and authorities have detained hundreds of activists while sealing JAAC offices.
  • A mediation team led by OPF chairman Syed Qamar Raza held hours‑long talks on Thursday that produced a one‑week postponement of a planned long march, and Raza denied he was acting for the army chief.
  • JAAC began as a 2023 protest movement with a 38‑point charter demanding economic and political reforms, and the current pause will test whether negotiated confidence measures are delivered before the election and whether protests resume.