PPP, JUI-F criticise Khawaja Asif over Rawalakot remarks amid AJK unrest

Speaking in the National Assembly, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged the government to exercise patience and restraint, saying emotional statements from ministers could worsen the situation. He said Khawaja Asif’s comments were inappropriate for a defence minister and risked inflaming tensions further.

Fazlur Rehman revealed that he had received a formal letter from the Awami Action Committee containing its charter of demands and had forwarded it to the government, but had yet to receive a response. He stressed that protesters should not face violence merely because of speeches and welcomed the committee’s decision to postpone its planned march towards Muzaffarabad.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also criticised the defence minister, questioning why a federal minister would suggest that residents of Rawalakot were not Kashmiris. He said the minister had yet to apologise and accused some members of the federal cabinet of creating problems instead of helping Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif resolve them.

Bilawal urged the prime minister to rein in his ministers and allow Maulana Fazlur Rehman space to play a mediating role. He also criticised coalition partner MQM-P over Karachi’s local government issues and challenged it to leave the federal government if its demands were not being met.

Responding on behalf of the government, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah accused the proscribed Awami Action Committee of pursuing a path of violence and attempting to disrupt the AJK election process. He said the government had already addressed many of the committee’s earlier demands, including providing subsidies on electricity and wheat.

Sanaullah maintained that the dispute over the 12 reserved refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly was a constitutional matter and said a six-member committee had been formed to examine the issue. He alleged that the committee’s real objective was to block the July 27 AJK elections.

He emphasised that Kashmir remained Pakistan’s jugular vein and said the government would welcome any mediation efforts by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, he insisted that constitutional issues could not be resolved through protests, rallies or sit-ins.