After several days of protests that brought the territory to a standstill, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government withdrew a controversial presidential ordinance and accepted several demands of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) coalition.
The demonstrations, which gained momentum on Saturday, saw thousands of people braving harsh weather to converge at several entry points, including Brarkot, Kohala, and Holar.
After deliberations, the protest leaders had announced plans to march towards the Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad’s Chattar neighbourhood on Sunday.
The protesters had demanded the abrogation of the ‘Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Ordinance, 2024’, which barred unregistered organisations from holding gatherings or protests and mandated registered groups to seek permission a week before their planned gatherings.
Sensing growing public resentment, the PPP, a coalition partner in the AJK government, was the first to reject the ordinance during its meeting in Karachi. Shortly afterwards, Shah Ghulam Qadir, the regional president of the PML-N, echoed a similar stance.
Amid these developments, President Barrister Sultan Mahmood announced that he had already directed Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq to withdraw the ordinance, and the requisite steps were underway. (Dawn)
