The federal government’s delegation has signed an agreement with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to end the ongoing protest and unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday. Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government and federal ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week.  Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement in AJK.

Fierce clashes between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and scores critically injured in the territory. “Our negotiation delegation has signed on a final agreement with the AJK Joint Action Committee. The protesters are returning to their homes. All roads have reopened,” Chaudhry said on X in the early hours of Saturday. “This is a victory of peace. Long live Azad Kashmir,” the minister added. The signing of the agreement comes after two rounds of talks between a high-level government delegation and the JAAC in as many days.

Chaudhry shared a copy of the pact on X, which listed 12 “decisions” taken and 13 “additional points”. It was agreed that first information reports (FIRs) will be registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act on the “incidents of violence and vandalism resulting into deaths of personnel belonging to LEAs (law enforcement agencies) and protestors”, with a judicial commission appointed where required. 

“Persons killed in the incidents of 01 and 02nd October 2025 shall be compensated with monetary benefits equivalent to LEAs,” the pact read, adding that gunshot injuries will be compensated at the rate of Rs1 million per person while a government job will be granted to one of the family members of each dead person within 20 days. 

On education, it was decided that two additional intermediate and secondary educational boards (ISEBs) shall be notified for Muzaffarabad and Poonch Divisions, with all three ISEBs of AJK linked with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education within 30 days. The agreement also announced that the AJK government will issue funds for the implementation of a health card within 15 days. “The possession of lands with extended families of Mirpur district in case of Mangla Dam Raising Project shall be regularised in 30 days,” it added. 

“The Local Government Act in its current shape shall be brought in conformity with the spirit of the original Local Govt. Act of 1990 and in accordance with the judgments on the subject by apex courts in 90 days.” In order to oversee and implement the agreement, a Monitoring and Implementation Committee comprising representatives from the federal government, its AJK counterpart and the JAAC will be notified, the document said.

 Besides Chaudhry and Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam from the federal government, the panel will also include two nominated representatives from the AJK administration and two members of the JAAC. The committee will be responsible for dispute resolution, will formulate rules and regulations of the working methodology and define timelines for the implementation of every decision in the “light of budgetary allocation and other constraints”. 

“The committee will also review existing perks and privileges / fringe benefits authorised to [the] judiciary, government officials and ministers in order to rationalise it,” the agreement read.Chaudhry, Muqam, Interprovincial Coordination Minister Rana Sanaullah, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf, former adviser to prime minister on Kashmir affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, ex-AJK president Masood Ahmed Khan and PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf were part of the government’s negotiating team.

From the AJK government’s side, Education Minister Diwan Ali Chugtai and Local Government Minister Faisal Rathore took part in the talks, according to a copy of the signed pact shared by Chaudhry. Raja Amjad, Shaukat Nawaz Mir and Anjum Zaman Awan represented the JAAC.On September 25, a deadlock emerged between the AJK government and the JAAC over the abolition of elite privileges and seats reserved for the Pakistan-based refugees from India-occupied Kashmir.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)