Muzaffarabad [PoJK], December 8 : Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) President Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry on Saturday directed the PoJK government to revoke the controversial presidential ordinance that had sparked widespread protests across the region.
In a letter to PoJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, the president instructed the government to free all individuals who had been arrested under the "Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Ordinance, 2024" as reported by Express Tribune. A statement revealed that the PoJK government took prompt action to follow his directives. This decision comes after the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) began long marches toward PoJK's entry points in protest of the controversial presidential ordinance.
Earlier in the day, convoys from Rawalakot, Bagh, and Dheer Kot arrived at the Kohala entry point, where participants held a sit-in on the bridge linking Pakistan with PoJK . Despite the biting cold, thousands of protesters gathered at the entry point.
In Muzaffarabad, the Public Action Committee's long march arrived at Bararkot, where a large group of protesters gathered at the point linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with PoJK and held a sit-in.
The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a coalition of civil society activists advocating for regional rights, has been protesting against the ordinance. Earlier this week, the PoJK Supreme Court suspended the ordinance.
However, Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a core committee member of JAAC, stated that the strike would continue unless the government formally repeals the ordinance and frees the detained activists.
Mir also mentioned that further negotiations would take place on Sunday (today), and the committee would demand a "siege" of the regional legislative assembly. Meanwhile, PoJK Information Minister Pir Mazhar Saeed asserted that the government had released all detainees and insisted that the negotiations concerning the ordinance had not failed.
Despite PoJK's strategic significance and natural beauty, the region has long been neglected by Islamabad, leaving many residents feeling marginalized. Promises of economic development, improved infrastructure, and better public services have largely remained unfulfilled, resulting in a population trapped in poverty and disillusionment.
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