Traders’ protest against high wheat prices and electricity tariffs in Azad Jammu and Kashmir would not have escalated if the relief package had been timely announced, region’s prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has said.

“Our nature is that we don’t take timely decisions,” he said in an interview with Aaj Exclusive aired on Saturday.

The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC)’s protest march earlier this month brought the region to a standstill for several days. Clashes were reported amid a wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across the territory.

Protesters called off the march a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a grant of Rs23 billion to help meet most of their demands, which included subsidies on flour and electricity prices.

At least four people were killed and over 100 injured in violent clashes, according to officials.

According to the AJK prime minister, the traders’ movement resulted from years of deprivation. He mentioned the submerged homes of many people after the construction and raising of the Mangla Dam in the past to substantiate his claim. He added that the 160-metre span of a pull connecting Ritua to Islamgarh was not completed over the years

“Maybe it was not the PM’s prerogative as all such commitments at the raising of Mangla Dam were given by WAPDA [Water & Power Development Authority] and the Government of Pakistan,” he said.

Chaudhry was of the view that politicians were facing difficulties because “some people” decided to safeguard their power instead of safeguarding the people’s rights.

“You decide to safeguard your rule for five years, but then you leave people to deprivation for 50 years.”

He also mentioned the Neelum-Jhelum project, saying that it affected Muzaffarad as there was no agreement between Pakistan and AJK on it.

When asked, Chaudhry said that he had raised the matter in the Senate Standing Committee on Finance meeting last summer and called for “ending this deprivation” in the region. He added that the two basic demands of electricity and wheat were not in AJK government’s domain.

The basic demands of the protesters were cheap electricity and flour, he said.

He said that the Indian government’s decision to scrap the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, also “created a vacuum” in the region as youngsters were worried about the AJK’s status.

When asked, the AJK prime minister said that the JAAC led the protest march. It was later joined by nationalist segments and an “anarchist segment”.

He added that the government has identified the miscreants who damaged the state properties.

Chaudhry said that the situation could have calmed down if demands were met on time. He clarified that the action committee has not demanded release of protesters.

In response to the criticism over calling the Rangers in the region’s government, the AJK PM said that the government had written a letter to the federal government three months after the Bisham incident because Chinese, Koreans, and Europeans were working in the hydel units.

They were called in to assist the government in ensuring the security as the AJK police not trained and well-equipped, he said. Rangers were summoned for security of strategic points, he said and clarified that they were not brought after protests.

“I used a term semi-armed forces, which includes FC, PC, and Rangers,” he said.

Also, read this

Some elements wanted to destabilise region in AJK protests: PM Shehbaz

Protests prompt AJK govt to declare two-day holiday in Muzaffarabad

Pakistan should consider making Azad Kashmir a province like India: Miftah

Modi’s BJP won’t emerge as single largest part in elections: Chaudhry

He warned that if Modi tried any kind of intervention on the Line of Control, the people would “beat them from Delhi to Srinagar. There is no doubt and Pakistani Kashmiri people are ready.”

He was of the view that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP would not emerge as the single largest party in the elections.

“Our duty is to be aware of the enemy’s designs and promote harmony here and continue development and raise hopes of IIOJK people.”

In response to another query, he said Chief of Army Staff Syed Asim Munir clarified that there would not be any change to the Kashmir policy, which speaks about the whole of the principle status of Kashmir as per the United Nations Security Council resolutions and Kashmir’s people will have the right to self-determination and decide about their future.

‘AJK A foreign territory’

When asked about the additional attorney general’s recent statement during the missing Kashmiri poet’s case hearing, he said that it was misinterpreted.

He mentioned Article 257 of the Constitution (Provision relating to the State of Jammu and Kashmir) and Article 19 of the AJK Constitution.

Chaudhry said that the Kashmiri poet had made “toxic statements” which could have led to a civil war during the protest march.