• PPP chief asks AJK protesters to hand over violent elements, links move to withdrawal of ban on JAAC
• Says Centre committed not to ask for further ‘sacrifices’ after freeze on provinces’ development funds

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday urged the protesters in Azad Jammu Kashmir to hand over those participants to the authorities who took the law into their own hands, while also demanding seats for the people of AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan in the National Assembly.

During his budget speech in the lower house of parliament, the PPP chairman spoke for more than an hour, touching upon topics such as the Benazir Income Support Programme, the US-Iran war, and the economy.

The Bhutto scion warned the AJK protesters, led by the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), saying those who were allegedly armed and took the law into their hands would face the consequences. He indirectly addressed the JAAC, saying that whatever was happening in Kashmir was not only hurting the country’s reputation but also the Kashmir cause.

“Our demand for them is to disperse, since we will not let them harm the cause or Pakistan, and the protestors should hand over those individuals who have taken law into their own hands to the AJK police,” he said, adding that his party would consider talking to the government to withdraw the notification proscribing the JAAC.

He claimed eighty per cent of the agreement was implemented, while the remaining clauses were long-term points, as they needed to discuss funding with the federation, and build consensus with other parties as well.

He said that the manner in which the protest was being carried out was creating problems for the Kashmiri people, adding that they could not access basic facilities. The PPP leaders also acknowledged the demand for the abolition of the seats reserved for Kashmiri Mohajirs and said that no other province would accept their legislative numbers being determined from elsewhere.

He added that PPP has shared historic ties with Kashmir and stressed that, without compromising the stated position of Pakistan regarding the Kashmir issue, there was a need to grant more political powers to the people of GB and AJK. The PPP chief demanded seats in the National Assembly for AJK and GB, so that the representatives of these areas could highlight their issues in parliament.

The PPP chairperson said the federal government had promised that allocations for provinces under the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) award would be “protected”, and that the Centre would not request any further “help or sacrifice” following the recent decision to freeze development allocations for the provinces.

“The provinces’ NFC award and financial resources have been kept protected; no damage will be caused to them,” he declared. “Besides this decision, the provincial governments will not be required to make any sacrifices,” he added.

Referring to the government’s decision to freeze development allocations for the provinces for three years to generate more than Rs900bn in additional resources for the Centre’s strategic needs, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the Centre and provinces had decided to jointly bear the burden of “extraordinary needs pertaining to defence and national security”.

He thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for remaining engaged with PPP representatives and finding a constitutional and democratic solution. He also welcomed the opposition PTI for “keeping aside its politics”, noting that the decision was made not just by the parties in the ruling coalition but also by the PTI-ruled KP.

The PPP leader also criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Indus Water Treaty. He said the entire country was ready to fight for the Indus treaty. The Israel-India nexus intended harm to Pakistan, he said, pointing out the close ties between the two countries.

Speaking about the fallout of the US-Iran war, he said Pakistan handled this situation by displaying political consensus and democratic values.

The NA will continue the budget debate on Friday (today).

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026