PoK Administration Bans Joint Awami Action Committee

 

ANN Monitoring Desk

 

Srinagar, Jun 6: The administration in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has declared the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC), a prominent civil society platform that spearheaded anti-government protests in PoK, a proscribed organisation under anti-terror laws.

 

According to a notification issued by the Home Department in Muzaffarabad on June 5, the authorities claimed that the organisation was involved in activities “prejudicial to peace and security” and accused it of creating unrest, intimidating the public, promoting hatred and generating a sense of insecurity among the population.

 

The order, issued under Section 12 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014 applicable in the Pakistan-occupied territory, stated that the President of the PoK administration had approved the inclusion of JK-JAAC in the First Schedule of the law, effectively designating it as a banned organisation.

 

The notification alleges that the organisation, also known as the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and Awami Action Committee (AAC), was engaged in activities amounting to terrorism and was acting in a manner detrimental to public order and state security.

 

The Joint Awami Action Committee emerged as one of the most influential grassroots movements in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in recent years. The platform brought together traders, transporters, lawyers, students and members of civil society and led large-scale protests against soaring electricity tariffs, inflation, taxation policies and governance-related issues.

 

The movement gained significant traction during the mass protests witnessed across PoK in 2024, forcing both the Pakistani government and the Muzaffarabad administration to announce relief measures, including subsidies on electricity and wheat flour.

 

In recent months, the organisation had intensified its campaign on a range of political and economic issues, including demands for greater transparency in governance and reforms. It had also been mobilising support for fresh protests over public grievances.

 

The latest action comes amid heightened political tensions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where the authorities appear to be moving aggressively against dissenting voices ahead of proposed protest programmes announced by the committee.

 

The ban is expected to spark political controversy in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where the Joint Awami Action Committee has consistently projected itself as a non-political public rights movement, while the authorities have accused it of threatening public order and security.