At long last, AJK gets a Chief Election Commissioner

AJK SC CJ (left) administers oath to CEC

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal took oath on Friday as the AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), putting an end to a protracted controversy as well as uncertainties linked with this constitutional office vacant since April last year.   

The new CEC, who was administered oath by AJK Supreme Court Chief Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, faces a daunting task of making foolproof electoral arrangements, including preparation of flawless voters lists, within a short span of time, as the sitting Assembly completes its five year term on July 24.

According to Section 22 (4) of the AJK’s Interim Constitution Act 1974, general elections to the Legislative Assembly are required to be held within a period of 60 days immediately preceding the day on which the term of the Assembly is due to expire… and the result of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days before that day.

In view of the said section, experts say, general elections can be conducted at any day between May 24 and July 10.

 “Yes indeed there is very little time (left) to elections and I have accepted this position as a challenge, in the national interest,” Justice Mughal told reporters at the swearing-in ceremony.

When his attention was drawn towards objections to the existing electoral rolls and opposition parties’ demand for fresh computerised lists, he said: “We have to take decision on this issue that how to make these lists up-to-date. There won’t be any problem in AJK but it definitely is a real issue in the constituencies located in Pakistan.”

It may be recalled that 29 out of the 41 constituencies of AJK Assembly are located within the AJK territory, and the rest in the four provinces of Pakistan. Six of those are reserved for the refugees from India-held Kashmir Valley and as many for the refugees from India-held Jammu and ‘others.’

To a question, the CEC said he would soon summon a meeting of political parties to devise a code of conduct.

“Whosoever violates it will be disqualified,” he warned.  

The appointment of Mr Mughal was notified by the AJK government on February 11 in accordance with the advice of the AJK Council tendered on November 16, 2015.

Under Section 50 (1) of the Interim Constitution Act, the AJK CEC is appointed by the AJK President on the advice of the AJK Council, headed by the prime minister of Pakistan.

According to the law department notification, Justice Mughal will hold the office of CEC in addition to his existing duties for a term of three years or till his retirement, if that comes earlier.

It may be recalled here that the appointment of CEC had seen prolonged wrangling between the AJK government and the AJK Council and main opposition PML-N in the courts of law, after the office became vacant in April last year.

On November 16, the AJK Council had given advice for appointment of Justice Mughal as permanent CEC. Instead of following the advice, the AJK government went on to amend the Chief Election Commissioner (Terms and Conditions) Act, 1992 through Ordinance XIX of 2015, wherein Section 6-A was inserted to create room for appointment of acting CEC.

After amending the law, the government appointed Justice Mughal as acting CEC on December 29, 2015. However, he did not take oath of that position.

In the meanwhile, PML-N lawmakers Chaudhry Tariq Farooq and Dr Najeeb Naqi challenged Section 6-A of the Ordinance XIX of 2015 in the High Court and prayed for modification in the December 29 notification to bring it in conformity with Section 50 (1) of the Constitution.

Accepting their petition, the High Court declared section 6-A ultra vires of the Constitution, but did not grant petitioners’ request for appointment of Justice Mughal as permanent CEC in accordance with the Council’s November 16 advice.

Instead, the High Court observed that the President should send a fresh penal of eligible persons to the Council after consultation with the Leader of the House and the Leader of Opposition.

The verdict was challenged in three separate appeals in the AJK Supreme Court, which disposed them off on January 25, and declared in its short order that the November 16 advice is “legal, valid and holds the ground.”

Once again, instead of acting upon the decision, the government amended the Chief Election Commissioner (Terms and Conditions) Act 1992 on January 28, rendering a sitting judge ineligible for appointment as CEC.

It was after that step, the PML-N lawmakers filed an application in the Supreme Court for contempt of court proceedings against the government.

On February 9, the apex court took strong exception to the non-implementation of its judgment, hinting that it could take punitive measures as prima facie the conduct of the government constituted a case for contempt of court proceedings.

The court also summoned law minister, chief secretary and law secretary to make personal appearance before it.

Sensing the mood the Supreme Court, the government presented the notification about the appointment of Justice Mughal as CEC before it on Thursday.

However, nevertheless, CJ Mughal was reluctant to take oath until a detailed judgment by the apex court on the issue with particular reference to the amended law.

On Thursday the Supreme Court observed that the amended law (rendering a sitting judge ineligible to be appointed as CEC) was neither in existence on November 16, when the advice was sent by the Council nor on January 25, when this court had declared the advice legal and valid, and declared that a piece of subordinate legislation could not nullify its judgment.

…. Tariq Naqash

Sharif asked to honour commitment on Leepa tunnel

Civil society activists belonging to the picturesque Leepa valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) staged a symbolic protest on Thursday to remind Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of his commitment about construction of a tunnel to ensure round the year access to their area.

Home to some 80,000 people at a distance of around 100 kilometres towards the southeast of Muzaffarabad, Leepa valley is accessed by two dangerously narrow road and one pedestrian track beyond Reshian village. These tracks run through an altitude of around 10,000 feet. 

 However, heavy winter snowfalls block all three routes, forcing valley inhabitants to commute on foot at the peril of their lives. 

Every year, casualties occur as people wend their way to and from the valley through the snow-capped corridors. 

People of Leepa valley had long been demanding construction of the tunnel and their hopes were rekindled after Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif announced its construction during an election rally in the area in June 2011. 

When the PML-N clinched power at the Centre, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif owned the announcement and in line with his directives, the Executive Board of National Highway Authority had cleared the PC-1 for construction of 3.79 km tunnel with realignment of access road for CDWP/ECNEC approval in its 239th meeting held in Islamabad in September 2014.

The project was cleared by CDWP at a cost of Rs 7.3 billion and according to the two-year performance report (2013-15) of the ministry of Kashmir affairs Rs 50 million were allocated in the federal public sector development programme (PSDP) for 2014-15 for it. 

However, Leepa valley people were dismayed after realising that the project had not gone forward. 

Last week, the Muzaffarabad based residents of Leepa valley had staged a sit-in on the premises of Press Club on the same issue. 

On Thursday many of them drove to the snow capped Reshain village, located 25 kilometres before Leepa valley, to stage a protest there amid freezing cold. 

 Participants, who included lawyers, traders, students and political activists, were holding placards inscribed with their demands in English, Urdu, Kashmiri and Gojri languages. 

“Mian Sahib, where is Leepa tunnel?” questioned one placard. 

“We too are public; we too are humans,” read another. 

They also chanted similar slogans. 

Speaking to reporters, who had accompanied them to cover their protest, participants highlighted the problems faced by the Leepa valley residents due to the blockade of all three routes in winters.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should honour his commitment and order immediate commencement of the project, which is essential not only from the defence point of view but also for the sake of thousands of lives left stranded in the valley during winters,” said Shaukat Javed Mir, one of the protestors.

He also urged chief of the army staff, Gen Raheel Sharif to play his role in this regard. 

“Our peaceful struggle is not against any individual or organization but for the betterment of our generations and it should be looked into from that angle,” said Syed Ishtiaq Bukhari.

 Participants warned that if the commitment made to them was not honoured, they would be compelled to stage a protest in front of the Parliament House in Islamabad.
Tariq Naqash

AJK PM slaps officer, but apologises to him later

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed slapped an officer of Mirpur Development Authority (MDA) for his alleged failure to address public complaints, but the anger backfired on him, after the edgy official threatened to spill the beans and left the place.

The untoward incident took place in the PM’s residence in the lakeside city of Mirpur on Saturday where Imran Shaheen, MDA’s estate officer, had also come along with several other officials to call on Mr Majeed.

While sitting beside the prime minister, Mr Shaheen had to face the anger of the chief executive, infamous for his short-temper, apparently for alleged incompetence and failure to address public complaints.

MDA has long been at the centre of allegations and controversy for mismanagement, favouritism and other unlawful practices in connection with allotments, cancellations and reallotments of plots. 

As Mr Shaheen tried to give some clarifications, much to his perturbation he received a slap from the prime minister.

The unexpected spank infuriated him so much that he remarked that how could he deliver when the prime minister and his sons were involved in corruption, witnesses told this scribe.

In the presence of other officials, the prime minister and Mr Shaheen had words, before the later left the place but not without hurling a threat to spill his guts.

Fearful of the impending disclosures, the prime minister rushed Divisional Commissioner Raja Amjad Pervez Ali and DIG Sardar Gulfraz to make peace with the officer.

According to official sources, it took the duo almost three hours to achieve the goal, following which Mr Shaheen returned to the PM’s residence only to be apologised by him.

“You are like my sons,” the prime minister was quoted as saying to the eggy officer.

According to sources, Mr Shaheen, who belongs to Kotli, is a management group officer with hardly six years service at hand. He was posted to Rawalakot, but employed his connections to get a posting in Mirpur, which is considered to be a very lucrative station by the bureaucracy for being home to hundreds of thousands of British Kashmiris.

...... Tariq Naqash

Salahuddin asks Islamabad to stand either by Kashmiris or by their killer

Reiterating his claim that attack on India’s Pathankot Airbase was carried out by the Kashmiri fighters, United Jihad Council (UJC) chairman Syed Salahuddin has warned Islamabad against a crackdown on militants, terming it “dismaying.”

He also asked Islamabad to “give up hypocrisy” and stand either by the side of the freedom seeking Kashmiris or their tormenter – India.

“Pakistan is not only an advocate but also a party to the longstanding Kashmir dispute and therefore the Pakistani people, government and media should play the role of a patron rather than of an adversary,” he said at a press conference in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday.

Around two hundred people, mostly migrants and former militants, were also present in the Press Club where Salahuddin spoke to media in his first public appearance after early this month’s Pathankot attack.

Surprisingly, unlike previous occasions his guards were not brandishing guns, but just batons during his press talk.

“Support to the slain (Kashmiris) and friendship with the slayer (India) cannot go hand in hand,” remarked the burly bearded leader.

The razor-edged remarks by Salahuddin came in the wake of Islamabad’s condemnation of the recent attack on Pathankot airbase, responsibility of which was claimed by UJC, a conglomerate of around a dozen militant groups fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

“India has been mercilessly killing the Kashmiris, day in day out. Every day breaks like a doomsday in Kashmir, but nobody calls it terrorism… Nobody bothers to ask (Narendra) Modi to stop that tyranny,” he said.

He asserted that Pathankot was purely a military target, struck by the mujahideen at the peril of their lives, “but ironically from (Pakistani) defence minister to all else spoke bad about them (fighters).”

“We are at a loss to understand that whether they (Pakistani officials) are concerned about the interests of the country that feeds them or that of its enemy?”

“Khawaja Asif Sahib, we are not terrorists, we are legitimate freedom fighters, struggling for our usurped rights for the last 68 years in accordance with the UN charter,” he said, naming Pakistani defence minister.

“If a soldier from Delhi, Madras, Nagaland and elsewhere in India can kill our children, molest our womenfolk and torch our properties in our motherland, why can’t we hit them back in their territory?”

 “If attacking unarmed civilians is allowable to them, why it’s forbidden for us to attack the armed military personnel?”

Of the Pathankot attackers, he said his alliance not only owned them, but also felt proud of them.

“They are from us… We have been patronizing them and feel proud of it. I can claim with certainty that there is not a single non-Kashmiri fighter among them. Yes, some of them may be living in Kashmir and some as a refugee in Pakistan.”

He pointed out that after receiving telephonic intercepts from India, Pakistan had constituted a high-powered committee from its counter terrorism department.

But, he lamented, before the committee could start its task, Islamabad launched crackdown on militants, arresting them and sealing their offices.

“What was the rationale behind the arrest of Maulana Masood Azhar,” he said of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief.

He said the crackdown was not only dismaying but it had also sent a wrong across the divide – a message of anguish and despair.

“Are you happy that the bullet should be fired, women molested and settlements torched only in the territory of Kashmir? Why you become sleepless, when there is an action (by militants) against a military target outside Kashmir?”

He vowed that as long as India would continue to employ barbarism in Kashmir, Pathankot like actions would continue to happen.

“If the savage Indian forces do not refrain from coward acts of brutality against innocent women and children, we will retaliate in any part of India and we are capable enough to do so,” he threatened.

He asked Pakistan’s political and military leadership to remain wary of Indian prime minister’s policies of deceit and backstabbing.

Regarding Gilgit-Baltistan status, he said Islamabad should give maximum constitutional rights to them, but should not provide any excuse to India to annex the territories under its occupation.

Salahuddin also rejected India-Pakistan talks as a “useless exercise.”

He recalled that there had been more than 150 rounds of talks between Islamabad and New Delhi in the past, but Kashmir was never discussed as a core issue.

“India uses dialogue process as a ploy to hoodwink the international community and gain time to suppress the armed struggle in Kashmir. She may be able to befool the world, but not us.”

… Tariq Naqash

acting CEC appointed in AJK 'in a controversial manner'

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Tuesday appointed the AJK High Court Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal as acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in a move that an opposition lawmaker said amounted to infringement of the Interim Constitution Act 1974.

“In exercise of powers conferred by section 6-A of the AJK Chief Election Commissioner (Terms and Conditions) Act, 1992, as amended vide Ordinance XIX of 2015, the AJK President, after consultation with the AJK (Supreme Court) Chief Justice, has been pleased to appoint Mr Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, Chief Justice AJK High Court, as acting CEC in addition to his duties as High Court CJ, till the appointment of (permanent) CEC,” said a notification issued by the AJK law department here.

“The notification shall take effect on and from the date Justice Mughal takes upon himself the oath of this office,” it added.

An official spokesman told this scribe that Justice Mughal would be administered oath at 11:30 am on Wednesday.

Under section 50 of the AJK Interim Constitution Act, 1974, the CEC is appointed by the AJK President on the advice of the Council (headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan as Chairman) on such terms and conditions, as may be prescribed (by law or rules made thereunder).

However, the issue had become an area of contention between the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad, after the retirement of Justice Munir Ahmed Chaudhry on April 14, 2015, who was holding the additional charge of this office since April 27, 2013.

On September 11, the Council sent an advice to the AJK government for the appointment of Justice (retired) Munir as CEC for one year and 15 days, i.e. the remaining period of his previous term of three years.

However, the AJK government did not comply with the advice, and instead filed a reference in the AJK Supreme Court that which authority was competent to legislate about the terms and conditions of CEC in the present situation.

Interestingly, the AJK Chief Election Commissioner (Terms & Conditions) Act was passed by the AJK Assembly in 1992 and by the Council in 2000.

The Apex Court opined on October 21 that the matter relating to the terms and conditions of the CEC was within the legislative competence of the AJK Assembly and not the AJK Council.

After the apex court opinion the AJK government promulgated Ordinance XIX of 2015, whereby section 6-A was inserted in the 1992 Act to create room for the appointment of acting CEC.

However, in the meanwhile, the Council sent advice for appointment of Justice Mughal as permanent CEC. Instead of following the advice, the AJK government locked horns with the Council, maintaining that Justice Mughal did not figure in the 3-member panel it had sent to the Council for the purpose.

In the meanwhile, the AJK government asked the AJK Supreme Court CJ to recommend any judge as acting CEC. As the SC CJ also proposed Justice Mughal, the government initiated the case for his appointment as acting CEC. The summary was however withheld by the chief secretary on the grounds that since the constitutional advice from the Council for appointment of permanent CEC had already been received, there was no reason to appoint an acting CEC.

On Monday, the AJK President allegedly wrote to the chief secretary to return the summary, lying pending with him. While that was yet to happen, the government initiated a fresh case for appointment of acting CEC and got the notification issued from the law department on Tuesday, without involving the chief secretary’s office.

Under section 7 (b) of the Rules of Business, all cases submitted to the Prime Minister are required to be routed back through the chief secretary. However, sources confirmed that the summary regarding Mr Mughal’s appointment was not routed back through the chief secretary’s office.

Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, deputy opposition leader in the AJK Assembly and PML-N senior vice president, said the government had infringed the interim Constitution Act, 1974 by ignoring the advice of the Council.

“Unfortunately the AJK government is on a warpath under a well thought out conspiracy and in doing so is trespassing not only the subordinate laws but also the supreme law, that is the Constitution,” he said. 

... Tariq Naqash 

Discrimination against Afghans and Pashtuns: The truth behind

Mohammad Akbar makes his living by selling vegetables seeds on a pushcart near Hamam Wali Masjid in Muzaffarabad. He was born in Tagao, in Jalalabad district of neighboring Afghanistan,

Akbar Khan beside his pushcart

approximately in late 60’s. 

In 1995, several years after migrating to Pakistan, he married to a cousin in a refugee camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Buner district and two years after tying the nuptial knot, moved to the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with his spouse and an infant daughter.

In the ensuing years, his family multiplied, following the birth of seven more children, one of whom unfortunately got killed in the devastating 2005 earthquake at the age of 3 years. His eldest son is however now a student of first year in a private college in Muzaffarabad.

The family lives in a tin-roof shelter that a local resident has allowed them to raise on his land, without any rent. Eighteen years on, they are contended, even though the breadwinner hardly makes both ends meet.

In summer last year, he took his family to his birthplace in Afghanistan, perhaps for the first time after shifting to Muzaffarabad.

They stayed there for five months but none of his family members, he says, showed an iota of interest to permanently settle down in the warn-torn country.

“We are happy here. My children have friends here and they mostly converse with each other in Urdu and Pahari (rather than Pashto),” says the bearded man, implying their level of integration.

In December last year, when gunmen massacred at least 141 students at an army run school in Peshawar, repatriation of Afghans without proper identification papers began from across the country, under a nationwide counter terrorism strategy.

According to Khuda Bakhsh Awan, AJK's Inspector General of Police (IGP), some 11000 illegal Afghan refugees were evicted from the region early this year in the wake of the worst ever terror attack.

“They were the people, totally unverified… Many of them moved out (of AJK) voluntarily,” he says.

Interestingly, Akbar survived that eviction, notwithstanding the fact that all he possesses is an ‘identity card’ issued in 1990 by a Quetta based Afghan militant organization – Nida-e-Mujahideen.

“I have myself provided all details to the local police station... Whenever, there is any operation against the Afghans, officials come and ask questions, but never have I faced any intimidation or harassment,” he says.

“If they don’t evict us, we would love to settle down here for good.”

However IGP Awan says the AJK government cannot take any decision on this issue in isolation.

“Still, some 5-6 thousand Afghans possessing Permit of Residence (PoR) cards are living in AJK. They have been given the deadline of December 31 by the federal government. If there is no extension in the deadline, they too will have to leave,” he adds.

On October 5, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) organized a protest demonstration in Islamabad against the alleged cancellation of 100,000 CNICs of the Pakhtuns and their forced displacement from Punjab and AJK.

PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai alleged that Pakhtuns were being (mis)treated like that of Afghans.

On the following day, an adjournment motion was also tabled in Balochistan Assembly on alleged expulsion of Pakhtuns from AJK. The motion was converted into a resolution and adopted by the house on October 12.

However, AJK authorities reject allegations of discrimination against Pakhtuns in their territory.

“In fact, people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have centuries old relations with the Kashmiris. They are connected to each other by the bonds of friendship, kinship and trade,” says IGP Awan.

Ground realities substantiate his views, as they show Pakhtuns not only successfully running profitable businesses but also owning residential and commercial properties in AJK, some in contravention to the laws of the land.

Ishaq Khan is one of them. He runs a cloth shop in Khan Market, off Madina Market, a commercial hub of Muzaffarabad.

From 1960 onwards, his grandfather Haji Noor Mohammad started visiting Muzaffarabad as a cloth seller. According to him, his grandfather had migrated to Quetta in 1947 from Ghazni in Afghanistan.

In 1979, Haji Noor Mohammad’s sons and two other Pakhtuns, also claiming to be the Quetta residents, jointly purchased a piece of evacuee property in Madina Market from an influential allottee against Rs 700,000 - then considered to be a huge amount.

They razed a house on the property and built shops thereon, naming it as Khan Market.

A lot of hue and cry was raised by some Kashmiris against the deal, citing alleged violation of the State Subject Law that governs the issues of citizenship and purchase of property in both parts of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir. The law was introduced by the Hindu Dogra ruler of the erstwhile princely state in 1927.

According to the law, there are three categories of State Subjects, known as class I, II and III.

Class I – “All persons born and residing within the State before the commencement of the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh Sahib Bahadur, and also persons who settled the reign before the commencement of samvat year 1942 (1885AD), and have since been permanently residing therein.” Class II – “All persons other than those belonging to Class I who settled within the State before the close of samvat year 1968 (1911AD), and have since permanently resided and acquired immovable property therein.”

Class III – “All persons, other than those belonging to Classes I and II permanently residing within the State, who have acquired under a rayatnama any immovable property therein or who may hereafter acquire such property under an ijazatnama and may execute a rayatnama after ten years continuous residence therein.”

“My father Haji Jan Mohammad obtained an ijazatnama and then rayatnama which qualified him for class-III State Subject certificate,” claims Ishaq.

Like Haji Noor Mohammad’s descendants, there are tens of hundreds of Pashto and Hindko speaking families from KP who have purchased properties in AJK over the years bygone, amid serious complaints and concerns that corrupt revenue department officials have liberally exercised authority in favour of most of them.

Those who have obtained permissions without providing requisite documents are now feeling the heat of impending action against the illegal residents, officials say.

According to intelligence sources, it were some of these people who misled and provoked Mr Achakzai into hurling allegations against the AJK government.

These sources claim that some Afghans with the help of corrupt officials of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) obtained Pakistani CNICs which were detected during scrutiny launched under the counter terrorism strategy.

“If the CNICs of some Pakhtuns have been cancelled, it’s because either they simultaneously possessed Afghan refugee cards or there were errors and omissions in the information they (had) provided to Nadra,” one official source points out.

“There is no truth in reports that the Pakhtuns are being discriminated in AJK… If there has been any action against anyone, it’s not because of his cast, creed or ethnic background but because of some offense that no government can overlook,” he adds.

Sources reveal that the ijazatnama or rayatnama granted to such people are also being reviewed. So far around two dozen such certificates have been cancelled in Muzaffarabad, Dadyal and Mirpur, according to them.

These people have either disposed off or will have to dispose off the properties they have raised here, the sources say.

However, those Pakhtuns or other Pakistanis who have duly fulfilled all requirements to permanently or temporarily settle down in AJK are at ease.

Ahmed Shah Bukhari and his five siblings represent that class.

Bukhari’s Pashto speaking father shifted to Muzaffarabad more than 50 years ago from Abbottabad as a cloth merchant. Today, all of his children are separately dealing in the same commodity in different markets of Muzaffarabad. They have also obtained class III State Subject status.

“We too were migrants (from Abbottabad) … (But) for the last two decades I am being constantly chosen as an office-bearer of the traders’ association in Madina Market. Currently, I am also heading the PML-N trade wing in district Muzaffarabad,” Bukhari, 58, says.

“I have not faced any disrespectful behavior at the hands of officials or public… If anybody has faced, it might be because of some guilt,” he adds.

However Abdul Majid Khan, minister for rehabilitation in the present PPP government, slightly differs.

Not many people in Pakistan know that his grandfather Khan Abdul Hameed Khan, the first elected prime minister (1975-77) of AJK and previously also president and chief justice, was real younger brother of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, KP’s first chief minister after 1947.

Majid Khan’s constituency - one of the 12 housing the Pakistan based Kashmiri refugees - is spread over the entire KP.

He claims that the Pakhtuns from Miankhel tribe used to do trade with Kashmir valley and were given citizenship rights by the Dogra ruler long before partition.

Many of them migrated from Kashmir Valley in 1947 and settled mainly in KP and some parts of Punjab, he adds, putting their current number to around 6000.

“They are among the people whose CNICs have been cancelled. The authorities are neither treating them as Pakistanis nor Kashmiris, but as Afghans which is unfair,” he says.

 “Action against people who are not Pakistani or genuine Kashmiri citizens is fine, but good eggs should not be wasted for the sake of a few bad ones,” Khan stresses.

Meanwhile, as the December 31 deadline for the eviction of Afghans approaches, the AJK government has been asked by the States and Frontier (SAFRON) Division to wait for a final decision of the federal government in this regard.

Referring to the same direction, Pathan Welfare Association has made an appeal to the AJK government not to be too hasty in expelling well-settled and integrated Afghans. 

In the light of the SAFRON Division communique, the AJK government has asked all administrative officers to wait for the next policy decision by Islamabad.

Nevertheless, officials says, there is no reason to halt implementation of a settled policy whereby all Afghan refugees are required to live in the same district for which they have been issued the PoR by Nadra.

“Let’s hope this issue is not negatively exploited by anyone, whether living here or elsewhere,” they say.

……..Tariq Naqash