AJK BOI Chairman steps down over ‘protests against inflation’

MUZAFFARABAD: Chairman AJK Board of Investment (BOI) Sardar Amjad Jalil on Sunday resigned from his post, citing the current situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, ARY News reported.

In a statement, Sardar Amjad expressed deep concern over the prevailing political situation in AJK, saying that the citizens were protesting for basic necessities like electricity and flour.

Holding AJK Prime Minister and his cabinet responsible, he said that their lack of interest and cooperation had led to the current crisis. He lamented that AJK, once a peaceful region, was now witnessing bloodshed and violence.

آزاد کشمیر کی کشیدہ صورتحال پر پہلا استعفیٰ آگیا#ARYNews pic.twitter.com/56gg3iqWwA

— ARY NEWS (@ARYNEWSOFFICIAL) May 12, 2024

The former AJK BOI Chairman appealed to the Joint Action Committee to continue their peaceful protests and urged the AJK government to provide relief to the people.

He mentioned that he had personally convinced foreign investors to invest in Azad Kashmir, but the Prime Minister’s “stubbornness and opposition” thwarted his efforts.

Sardar Amjad Jalil has sent his resignation to the Prime Minister of AJK, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

Azad Kashmir witnessed violent clashes between the police and activists of a rights movement amid a wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across the territory, which left at least one police official dead and several others injured.

Sub-inspector Adnan Qureshi succumbed to a gunshot wound in the chest in the town of Islamgarh, where he was deployed to stop a rally for Muzaffarabad under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

The JAAC, which has traders at the forefront in most parts of the state, has been seeking the provision of electricity as per hydropower generation cost in AJK, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privileges of the elite class.

They called for the strike following the arrest of at least 70 of their members in raids on Thursday.