The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has issued a travel advisory urging tourists and visitors to avoid travelling to the region from June 5 to June 20. This advisory follows a planned protest organized by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) scheduled for June 9.
Travelers are advised to postpone any non-essential visits during this period. Furthermore, those currently in AJK for leisure or other reasons have been asked to leave the area by Saturday evening to avoid potential disruptions.
JAAC has a history of organizing large-scale protests addressing economic and political grievances, some of which escalated into violent clashes with law enforcement in May 2024 and September 2025, resulting in casualties. The current protest campaign centers on the demand to abolish the 12 seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
Meanwhile, the All Parties Conference (APC), convened at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Muzaffarabad earlier this week, rejected the call to eliminate these reserved seats. The APC emphasized that constitutional reforms fall exclusively within the mandate of the elected representatives of the people.
In a significant development, the AJK Legislative Assembly passed a resolution reaffirming the retention of the 12 seats for Kashmiri refugees. The resolution described refugee representation as both a historical and constitutional reality. It also suggested that electoral reforms aimed at addressing complications and gaining political consensus could be enacted through the assembly.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif condemned the demands to remove the reserved seats, calling them an attempt to undermine and disrupt the electoral process ahead of the upcoming elections. On his social media platform X, he highlighted that while Sialkot city and tehsil have one seat in the AJK Assembly and two in the National Assembly, other Kashmir Assembly constituencies are dispersed across Pakistan.
He recalled that in October 1947, these migrants settled in Sialkot after enduring the loss of over 200,000 lives, widespread atrocities against women, and abductions. He questioned how these migrants could be deprived of their rightful political representation.
In other election-related news, the Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir announced that general elections will be held on July 27, 2026. Polling for all AJK Legislative Assembly constituencies will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on that day.
The election schedule allows candidates to submit nomination papers between June 9 and June 19. Scrutiny and preliminary acceptance of nominations will occur on June 20. Appeals against nomination decisions may be filed from June 21 to June 24, with hearings on June 26 and 27, and final decisions announced between June 28 and 29. Candidates can withdraw nominations until June 30, and the final list of contestants along with election symbols will be published on July 2.
