JAAC announces shutter-down strike in AJK on Dec 5

RAWALAKOT: The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Wednesday announced a shutter-down strike in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on December 5 to protest against the Presidential Ordinance, ARY News reported.

As per details, the ordinance imposed by AJK government requires administrative approval for any protest, which the JAAC believes restricts democratic freedoms.

The strike is a response to the recent arrests in Rawalakot and Mirpur, and the JAAC demands the repeal of the Presidential Ordinance and implementation of their Charter of Demands.

Moreover, the JAAC has called for a complete shutdown of businesses, educational institutions, and transportation, with only hospitals and emergency services remaining operational.

In the past, similar strikes have resulted in clashes between protesters and police, with Section 144 being imposed to ban public gatherings.

Also read: Consumers get Rs3 per unit power bills in AJK after protest

Azad Kashmir recently 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, had sought the provision of electricity as per hydropower generation cost in AJK, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privileges of the elite class.

The violent protesters damaged multiple vehicles, including a magistrate’s car at the Poonch-Kotli road. Moreover, markets, trade centres, offices and schools and restaurants remained closed across the AJK.

Later on May 14, the action committee ended protests in AJK after the government accepted their demands.