• Reiterates call for dialogue to resolve AJK unrest, urges restoration of internet services
• Seeks decisive mandate in July 27 polls, hopes PPP will form govt in region
MUZAFFARABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday said human life was above any legislative dispute, stressing that the grievances of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) must be addressed through dialogue.
Addressing a public rally at Sikandar Hayat Stadium in Kotli as part of his party’s election campaign, the PPP chairman said every Pakistani was concerned about the prevailing situation in AJK.
He also expressed solidarity with the families of security personnel killed in the recent unrest, as well as protesters who lost their lives or remained missing.
Addressing the protesters directly, he said ordinary Kashmiris were paying the price for a dispute with the state and urged the federal government to restore internet services without delay.
He reiterated his proposal for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to independently investigate the recent unrest, saying he had shared the proposal with both the Joint Awami Action Committee and PM Shehbaz Sharif after his visit to Muzaffarabad.
Under the proposal, he said, protesters would suspend their activities while the state would halt its actions until the commission completed its inquiry, creating space for dialogue.
He regretted that neither side had responded to the proposal and urged them either to accept it or come forward with an alternative, saying AJK could not remain paralysed indefinitely.
Decisive mandates
Campaigning for the July 27 AJK elections, he expressed confidence that the PPP would secure victories across Kotli district and appealed to voters to return the party’s candidates with decisive mandates.
He expressed his hope of forming the government in AJK, seeking “better results” from the public in the upcoming elections than in the previous one.
The PPP chairman said that his party had contested the last election in AJK even when the PTI was in power in the Centre.
“During the last elections, the PPP had the majority seats and the party had won the elections, but now the conditions are different,” he said.
“For the past six months, the PPP has been in government in AJK, and our friend, [PM] Shehbaz Sharif, has been in power at the Centre for some years,” he elaborated, referring to the ruling coalition led by PML-N.
He alleged that a criminal case registered against PPP candidate Javed Budhanvi in LA-9 (Nakyal) was politically motivated and warned that those responsible for harassing party workers would be held accountable.
He said the upcoming election would determine whether Kashmiris wished to be represented by the PPP or by those who, according to him, did not regard all parts of AJK as integral to Kashmir.
Without naming anyone, he said the federal government had still not clarified whether remarks by its representative from Sialkot reflected official policy. If any minister believed that certain parts of Kashmir could simply be ignored, or that the region’s electoral seats were in anyone’s “pocket”, they should remember that the future of Kashmir rested solely with its people, he said.
Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026
