A scientific journey from subject(s) to citizen(s) beginning in 2005
From Civil Society Forum – AJK to JKA PUBLIC AGENCY
From intractable conflict to a 1,000 year strategy of peace
Where there is a plan for #Peace it should be embraced & where there is a plan for #Conflict it should be disgraced. By all thinking humans irrespective of where they live in the world or what ideology they follow. #RightsMovementAJK
#Conflict2PeaceInvitationLetterAJK
Averting a security crisis in the constitutionally ambiguous & controversially named territory of ‘Azad’ Jammu & Kashmir (AJK)
Date: 05/05/2024
Our reference: TA000001/AJKUKUSAGHRGMJKA/05052024/SGEC0001
Addressed to:
1) The UK Government via its parliamentarians (in turn) via their constituents
2) The USA Government via members of its congress (in turn) via their constituents
3) Global Human Rights Organisations: i) Amnesty International ii) Human Rights Watch
4) Global Media Organisations: i) Al Jazeera ii) BBC iii) Deutsche Welle (DW) iv) VOA
Dear aforementioned governments & fellow citizens of the world,
JKA PUBLIC AGENCY acting on the request of the public of AJK at large - both home & abroad – in general and central members of the Joint Awaami (Public) Action Committee AJK (hereafter referred to as JAAC for short) in particular, is hereby notifying all the above referenced entities of an alarming security situation developing in this territory, under the ‘assumed’ control of Pakistan without the local people’s reference. The latter reference being presented as a proviso by all countries, governments & global forums (viz. UN) concerned with the ‘territorial conflict’ emerging in Jammu Kashmir & Allied (areas) in 1947, including the prevailing government in AJK by referencing its ‘foundational document’ of the 24th of October 1947*.
JAAC has produced an unprecedented struggle for 3 basic needs of the population at large over the past year, commencing from Supply Bazaar in Rawalakot (Poonch) in the early days of May 2023, before being emulated by all 10 districts & 35 subdivisions of the territory in due course over the following weeks & months.
3 demands:
1) For the public of AJK to be provided electricity at production cost (given that the territory produces hydro powered electricity in far greater abundance than its needs but without local ownership).
2) For the public of AJK to be provided wheat flour at subsidised rates to provisionally compensate for its ensnarement into a ‘territorial conflict’ - which has blocked its access to regional & global trade - hence making us all subservient to a ‘conflict economy’.
3) For the ruling ‘elite’ in AJK to forego their extra-ordinarily lavish lifestyles at the expense of the hapless & seemingly helpless taxpayer.
JAAC’s struggle has been unprecedented on many counts. For example:
1) It has been consistent with sit-in protests being conducted on a daily basis over the past year throughout the territory.
2) It has remained strictly peaceful and avoided all provocations to indulge in conflict despite numerous district-wide and at times division-wide complete voluntary shut downs of markets & roads.
3) It has attracted all stratum of society to co-operate in boycotting electricity bills and touched a public nerve that most people feel connected to & affected by.
JAAC is not a (revolutionary) political party but rather an all-inclusive civil society movement with very modest demands, much less than what our fundamental rights in total amount to and enjoyed by most ‘developed’ societies. Yet, despite engaging with the AJK government (while refraining from political controversy) on numerous occasions over the past year, the latter has not been able to deliver on its assurances & promises.
True to form and as experienced & witnessed by this independent action-oriented researcher & public policy activist - working uninterrupted on the ground in AJK since 2005 (with a background in international & parliamentary journalism) - the AJK government neither has the intention, ability or inclination to deliver to the public, largely on account of its basic structural function acting as a satrap for Pakistan. In countless examples over the past couple of decades, its strategy has been to initially pretend it is serious about negotiation and whenever it reneges on its promises and finds the public to remain steadfast in their demands, it resorts to brute force to crush public activists. As #RightsMovementAJK led by JAAC has reached unprecedented levels of engagement with the public, the ‘powers-that-be look to be resorting to an unprecedented crackdown in response to persistent yet peaceful public demands.
The writing of this letter as suggested by the title is to avert a security crisis which has emerged over the past week, with the arrival of thousands of Pakistani troops in all major urban & rural areas, through which run major road networks throughout the territory. A territory-wide ‘Long March’ from the south in Bhimber to the capital of Muzaffarabad in the north was announced for the 11th of May in early March. This is clear provocation & an attempt to create mayhem to divert the public from their modest demands.
While we acknowledge that every country & institution have their own concerns & commitments to their constituencies and we also understand that our fundamental rights must be obtained through a peaceful, ethical, democratic & legal (indigenous political) process; we seek attention for the purpose of monitoring developments in this territory, as we navigate ourselves out of a ‘conflict economy’ towards a ‘peace economy’.
It would also be naïve of us to pretend that the legacy of British colonial rule (with its geographic demarcations & presiding over the ‘transfer of power’ process) isn’t directly affecting us today, almost 77 years later. Who decides what is a legitimate political aspiration? Who decides who can rule over whom? Who gets to monopolise security arrangements in any given territory? Ultimately, who decides which geographic regions can prosper while others can’t?
The aim of JKA PUBLIC AGENCY is not to rile any power, near or far, big or small. Just like any field of life or expertise requires innovation & new ways of thinking to sustain progress of human kind, geopolitics cannot be immune from these needs. Every country in the world can always fare better by paying more attention to the needs of their own people, rather than focussing on geographic expansion which inevitably creates complications and invites involvement of other ‘interested parties’. Conflict then becomes inevitable and by its very nature it is unsustainable. Pakistan has spread itself very thin by repeating the same mistakes it made, leading to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
That was violent but inevitable. We are moving in a similar path though thankfully without the violence or external involvement. The error of the British colonial ‘transfer of power’ mechanism was evident in 1971. Not all political aspirations are workable, especially if certain aspirations are ignored at the expense of others.
Having rigorously collected public opinion in AJK (in particular) over the past 2 decades and painfully studied the effects of non-localised political change emanating in 1947, we declared AJK as a sovereign & neutral territory in April 2023**. JAAC is merely the ‘tip of the iceberg’. We humbly suggest that Its efforts warrant scrutiny from the rest of the world.
Regards
Tanveer Ahmed – Founder JKA PUBLIC AGENCY
Contact: 0092 343 0860380 Email: sahaafi@gmail.com
References:
*https://tanveerandkashmir.blogspot.com/2020/08/daily-diary-dd-day-218-of-2020.html
**https://tanveerandkashmir.blogspot.com/2023/04/daily-diary-dd-day-96-of-2023.html
JKA PUBLIC AGENCY Note: #E05052024