In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Jammu Kashmir Joint Public Action Committee has announced to postpone its long march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad until July 21, on assurance of progress on its demands.
Abid Shaheen, a member of the organization’s core committee, told the British broadcaster BBC that this decision was taken with the unanimous advice of the core committee.
According to him, a representative of an important figure from Pakistan met the organization’s delegation and assured them of the resolution of the demands, after which it was decided to temporarily postpone the long march.
Abid Shaheen said that earlier the organization had given the local government until 2 pm on Wednesday in favor of its demands.
He further said that although the long march has been postponed for a few days, the ongoing sit-ins at various places in Rawalakot will continue.
On the other hand, an official from the Rawalakot district administration confirmed to the BBC that the organization has postponed its long march for now.
However, the administration official refrained from commenting on whether any talks were taking place between the organization and government representatives.
The Public Action Committee had announced to start the march from Rawalakot to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday afternoon and according to officials, 4,000 Rangers, police and FC personnel have already reached Kashmir in this context.
According to a member of the committee, the reason for the delay is the negotiation process, the outcome of which will determine the future course of action.
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Abid Shaheen had told the BBC that the march was stopped due to ‘high-level negotiations’.
However, he did not say at what level these negotiations to end the protest were taking place, nor was any information given by the government in this regard.
Abid Shaheen further said that the announcement of the next action plan of the Public Action Committee depends on the outcome of these talks.
On the other hand, Sardar Umar Nazir Kashmiri, the leading leader of the Joint Public Action Committee, while explaining the postponement of the long march, appealed to the Kashmiri people not to fall prey to the baseless propaganda being spread on social media. These are all the same pages and channels that have been making allegations against the Kashmiri people for the past one month.
He said that our unity is our strength, we have not canceled the long march, but have given another opportunity for talks. We are peaceful people, we want our 38 demands to be implemented, but the allegations made by some people on this pure struggle of ours do not want peace in any way.
The leader of the Action Committee said that they want bloodshed for their political ambitions, while we Kashmiris will not allow ourselves to become the fuel of any such trick. We have to hope for the best and with that, remain steadfast in our sit-ins. We will peacefully implement our demands. If the demands are not implemented, the long march will be started without any delay.
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