AJK govt issues travel advisory ahead of JAAC protest, asks visitors to leave

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Friday urged outsiders to avoid travelling to the region and asked current visitors to leave immediately, ahead of a major protest that has prompted the deployment of federal paramilitary troops.

The strict travel advisory, effective from June 5 to June 20, comes in response to a strike call for June 9 by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a civil society alliance spearheading a volatile rights movement in the territory.

“The measure is advised to save intending visitors from any unexpected situation or inconvenience,” an unnamed official spokesperson said in a press release issued by the region’s Press Information Department (PID).

“The government also requests those already in the territory for sightseeing or any other purpose to leave by Friday evening so that they do not confront any unpleasant situation,” the spokesperson added.

Zahid Aslam, who owns a guest house in Neelum Valley, told Dawn that the administration had urged him to ask his guests to leave.

His guest house was booked till June 16, but guests are now requesting refunds.

The JAAC has previously led mass demonstrations over local economic grievances and political rights that turned deadly during clashes with law enforcement in May 2024 and September 2025.

The alliance’s latest protest wave centres on a highly contentious demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947.

JAAC alleges that these seats are frequently used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad.

On Thursday, the AJK Legislative Assembly strongly defended the status quo, backing the refugee seats and calling for elections to proceed on schedule.

Anxious to prevent a repeat of past bloodshed, Islamabad has dispatched federal paramilitary forces to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police force.

On Thursday, AJK Inspector General of Police Captain (retired) Liaqat Ali Malik formally requested 14,000 additional personnel from the federal government to secure the territory from June 7 to June 21.

Video footage circulating on Friday showed convoys of security personnel entering Muzaffarabad, suggesting that reinforcements were already being moved into the region ahead of the planned strike.

“Our foremost responsibility is to protect public and private life and property, and the police will act in accordance with their mandate,” Malik told Dawn.

“I urge people not to join any mob seeking to create unrest or attack security forces. Anyone with grievances or demands should pursue them through democratic and peaceful means,” he added.

A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the requisitioned force was “well over 14,000”, as two additional requests had been sent to the federal government for supplementary deployments.

Meanwhile, speculation mounted on social media that authorities might suspend internet and mobile data services from Friday midnight, as they had during the weeklong JAAC strike in September-October last year.

The previous shutdown had severely disrupted academic activities, online businesses and freelance work, while also hampering communication by rendering internet-based calling and messaging services inaccessible across the region.

There was, however, no immediate official confirmation of the reports.

Separately, the University of AJK on Friday postponed its Spring 2026 term examinations, scheduled to commence on June 8, until further orders in view of the JAAC strike call.