MUZAFFARABAD, 01 July (H.S.): Protests against Pakistan's federal government have intensified in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), with the banned Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee (JKAAC) leading the agitation. JKAAC chief Shaukat Nawaz Mir was arrested along with two associates from the Sangar Fattar area of Dhirkot, while more than 600 leaders and activists affiliated with the organisation have also been detained across the region.

According to reports by The Balochistan Post and The Washington Post, thousands of people gathered at Eidgah Ground in Rawalakot on Tuesday and declared that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was not part of Pakistan.

The Pakistani government had earlier announced a reward of Rs 10 million for information leading to the arrest of Shaukat Nawaz Mir and other senior JKAAC leaders. Mir was taken into custody on June 30.

Confirming the arrest, Muzaffarabad Deputy Commissioner Munir Qureshi said Shaukat Nawaz Mir was apprehended from the border area between Muzaffarabad and Bagh districts. Senior Superintendent of Police Riaz Mughal said Mir was wanted in connection with multiple criminal cases and was arrested from the Dhirkot area.

The Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee has been leading protests over the issue of reserved legislative assembly seats allocated to refugees in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Deputy Commissioner Qureshi said Mir has been charged with sedition. Authorities allege that he incited violence during demonstrations held earlier this month, in which at least four security personnel and three civilians were killed. The government of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir banned the JKAAC earlier this month, citing it as a threat to law and order.

The organisation has been demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the PoK Legislative Assembly that were reserved decades ago for refugees who migrated from the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan.

The controversy escalated after the Supreme Court of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir ruled that the refugee-reserved seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment. With the five-year term of the Legislative Assembly having ended and elections scheduled for next month, the issue has emerged as a major political flashpoint.

The reserved seats were created to represent people displaced from the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir during the decades-long conflict over the Himalayan territory.

The Pakistani government had announced a reward of Rs 10 million each for information leading to the arrest of Shaukat Nawaz Mir, Umar Nazir Kashmiri, Khawaja Mehran Arshad and Sardar Aman Khan.

The federal government has said the leaders, along with several others, have been booked on charges including sedition, incitement to hatred, disturbing public order, obstructing government functions and other related offences. The committee and its supporters have rejected the allegations, describing them as politically motivated and an act of political retaliation.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar