• Authorities tighten crackdown on group’s activists as businesses are seized and raids conducted
• Internet outage enters eighth day, affecting students and freelancers
• Ex-president urges JAAC to end agitation unconditionally

MUZAFFARABAD: Two sit-ins by activists and supporters of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) continued on the fringes of Rawalakot for the fourth consecutive day amid a partial shutter-down strike across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.

Though no untoward incident had been reported until evening, disruption of mobile phone services in Rawalakot after 8:30pm hindered the only means of ascertaining information about the latest situation in the ‘embattled’ town.

According to official sources and witnesses, participants in the gathering at Eidgah Ground had also dispersed during a downpour in the early hours of Saturday to relieve themselves and have breakfast in adjacent areas, either in their own homes or those of their local hosts, as they had done a day earlier.

However, around 400 youngsters stayed behind to avoid the risk of the ground being taken over by law enforcement personnel.

After 5pm, protesters began returning to the venue and their number continued to swell. According to witnesses, a sizeable number of women also remained at the ground until sunset.

Witnesses said JAAC core members were likely to address the crowd later in the night.

On Saturday, most towns in Muzaffar­abad Division and other parts of AJK observed a shutdown amid the continued suspension of public transport for the fifth consecutive day. There were also re­­ports of partial strikes in Mirpur Division.

Reports also said the administration had tightened the noose around key JAAC activists and supporters by seizing the businesses of many of them across the state.

In Muzaffarabad, police also raided and allegedly ransacked a men’s hostel in an attempt to arrest its owner, Sohaib Javed, a key JAAC member, but could not find him.

Also on Saturday, the suspension of internet services entered its eighth day, to the exasperation of citizens, particularly students and freelancers, who urged the authorities to show mercy and restore the services in the interest of their education and livelihoods.

“Yesterday, I had to travel to Garhi Habibullah in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit some documents online, and there I saw dozens of other students and citizens who had arrived from Muzaffarabad to use the internet for various urgent purposes,” said Ryan Khan, a student from the region’s capital.

“Not everyone can afford to travel outside their towns, so I urge the authorities not to ruin our future and to restore internet services without further ado.”

‘Withdraw unconditionally’

Meanwhile, former AJK president and prime minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan on Saturday reiterated his appeal to JAAC leaders to show a “good gesture” and end their agitation unconditionally.

“My heart bleeds because my home is burning,” said Mr Khan, a senior PPP leader from the influential Sudhan tribe.

Talking to Dawn, he maintained that politics demanded “respect for opponents, flexibility and harmony, without any room for obduracy in a battle royale”.

Mr Khan said he had invited several senior leaders from mainstream political parties to his residence the other day to find an amicable solution to the deadlock, where he stressed the need to rise above political affiliations in order to strengthen the state and its relations with Pakistan.

He called upon JAAC members to avoid “emotionalism and melodrama” and to realise the sensitivity of the situation.

Mr Khan said senior PPP AJK leaders would meet on the issue in Islamabad on Sunday (today), after which they would address a press conference.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026