Centre notifies body to review AJK refugee seats clause
• Recommendations to be submitted to monitoring committee
• JKJAAC expresses concern over delay in panel’s formation
MUZAFFARABAD: The federal government has notified a nine-member committee to deliberate on a contentious clause of an agreement signed nearly three months ago among the Centre, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC).
A notification to this effect, issued by the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and dated Dec 29, surfaced on social media on Tuesday. According to it, the committee comprises Mian Abdul Waheed, the senior-most AJK minister, and advocates Sardar Tahir Anwar and Raja Ejaz Ahmad Khan as nominees of the AJK government, while advocates Raja Amjad Ali Khan, Sardar Arbab and Saad Ansari represent the JKJAAC.
The federal government is represented by Muhammad Khashihur Rehman, draftsman/additional secretary; Hassan Mahmood, legislative adviser; and Taimoor Zareen Khan, consultant research — all from the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Under its terms of reference, the committee will deliberate on the issue of “members of the AJK Legislative Assembly other than the AJK constituencies (sic),” a reference to the 12 legislators elected from constituencies reserved for Pakistan-based refugees from India-held Jammu and Kashmir.
The committee has been authorised to meet as frequently as required and submit its recommendations to the Monitoring and Implementation (M&I) Committee constituted under the Muzaffarabad Agreement. The agreement was signed in the small hours of Oct 4 following prolonged negotiations between an eight-member federal team and the JKJAAC leadership, after a week-long shutdown across AJK which left at least 10 people, including activists and policemen, dead and dozens injured.
At the time of the agreement, an M&I Committee was also constituted, comprising federal ministers Amir Muqam and Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, along with two nominees each from the AJK government and the JKJAAC, “to oversee and implement the accord”.
The committee was also mandated to review and rationalise the perks and privileges of the judiciary, ministers and government officials in view of financial constraints. While the main agreement addressed several political, economic and administrative demands, it separately provided for the formation of a high-powered legal committee to deliberate on the controversial issue of the 12 refugee seats.
The first meeting of the M&I Committee was held in Islamabad on Oct 21, after which it was decided to convene the next session in Muzaffarabad on Nov 15. However, the meeting eventually took place on Nov 21, a day after the JKJAAC addressed an open letter to AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, alleging that the agreement had remained largely unimplemented beyond agreed timelines.
When contacted on Tuesday, the JKJAAC expressed regret over what it termed an inordinate delay in the formation of the committee, particularly at a time when public warnings of renewed protest had begun to surface.
“This step should have been taken within 15 days of the signing of the Muzaffarabad agreement, but it took almost 90 days,” said Raja Amjad Ali Khan, one of the notified committee members.
Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2025
