MUZAFFARABAD: Conjectures about the 14th amendment to the Constitution of Azad Jammu and Kashmir ended after the AJK government declared its standpoint towards draft proposals, which were reportedly formulated by federal ministries of law and Kashmir affairs, jointly.

“An extraordinary meeting of the AJK cabinet has unanimously agreed to disagree with the draft of constitutional amendments in totality,” stated a press release issued by AJK prime minister’s Press Secretary Raja Mohammad Wasim.

The meeting was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider wherein the draft of amendments, received on June 22, was discussed along with other things, it added.

In June 2018, the PML-N dominated joint sitting of the AJK Legislative Assembly and the AJK Council had approved 13th amendment to the AJK Constitution; it had abolished the council’s administrative and financial powers “in accordance with its election manifesto and popular public demands.” Headed by the prime minister of the time as chairman, the council was created under AJK’s Interim Constitution Act, 1974 “to serve as a bridge” between the governments in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad. However, it was alleged that this institution had assumed the role of a parallel government for AJK.

Administrative control of AJK Department of Inland Revenue, AG Office and Directorate General of Audit was transferred to the AJK government after the 13th amendment and the council secretariat was left with no source of income, which, according to sources, had greatly upset the beneficiaries of the previous system.

Though Mr Wasim’s press release did not specify draft proposals from Islamabad, sources told Dawn that elements in the federal government were “hell-bent” upon revival of the council’s fiscal and administrative powers through the proposed 14th amendment, something the AJK government was completely unwilling to concur with.

“It is the unanimous opinion of the AJK cabinet that the ideological relationship of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan is a reflection of the eternal wishes of the Kashmiri people. This [attachment] does not belong to any individual, political party or government but is a mutual possession of the people living on both sides of the state. And this affiliation is completely in accord with the vision of the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” the press release stated.

“Indian government resorted to this move to bring about demographic change in occupied Kashmir in contravention of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. In this backdrop, steps should be taken [by Islamabad] with mutual consultation [with the AJK government] to further empower the AJK government to represent the wishes of Kashmiris on both sides,” it added. The cabinet was of the view that constitutional matters could be settled in accordance with people’s will, also highlighted in Article 257 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which states: “when the people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir decide to accede to Pakistan, the relationship between Pakistan and that state shall be determined in accordance with the wishes of the people of that state.”

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2020