Protesters Halt Protests in AJK Following Govt’s Announcement of Relief Package
— May 14, 2024
ISLAMABAD (AIA) A day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s approval of a relief grant to combat inflation, the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an alliance of civil rights organizations, called off the ongoing protests in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK).
“The shutterdown strike is being called off. The government accepted all of our demands yesterday,” stated a representative of JAAC, referencing the government’s announcement of a Rs 1,100/40 kg reduction in wheat prices along with the provision of electricity at production cost. However, he added that a state-wide shutterdown will be observed until today, honouring those who lost their lives during the unrest.
Shaukat Nawaz Mir, the leader of the alliance, expressed gratitude towards PM Shehbaz for accepting the demands that had been pending for more than a year.
Earlier in the day, the JAAC announced to observe a “Black Day” to mourn the three individuals who perished during clashes with the law enforcement agencies, which saw dozens of people being injured along with the death of a policeman during the four-day protests. The demonstrations continued on the fourth day on Monday, despite the federal and AJK governments’ announcements of accepting all the demands of the protesters.
A day prior, PM Shehbaz announced a historic Rs 23 billion subsidy package for AJK during a high-level meeting, convened to address the valley’s havoc following stalled negotiations between the AJK government and JAAC.
Subsequently, AJK PM Chaudhry Anwarul Haq announced the issuance of the notifications regarding subsidies for power and food commodities and hoped that peace would be restored in the region after the implementation of the much-anticipated notifications.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the AJK PM clarified that neither the government had intentions to disrupt the peaceful struggle of the Azad Kashmir people nor would it try to impact any such struggle in the future. He reassured that the notification would come into effect immediately and that it was a permanent arrangement that would be part of the forthcoming budget.
As per the notification, the flour price has been reduced from Rs 3,100 to Rs 2,000 per 40 kilogrammes.
Subsequently, electricity prices will be Rs 3 per unit for usage between 1-100 units, Rs 5 per unit for usage between 100-300 units, and Rs 6 per unit for the 300-above slab.
Commercial rates of electricity have been fixed at Rs 10 per unit for 1-300 units slab, and for the slab of 300 or above, the rate has been fixed at Rs 15 per unit.