JKLF asks AJK government to remove hurdles, let marchers cross LoC – Pakistan

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Monday called on the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to remove the containers on the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar highway that had obstructed the movement of their march to the Control Line (LoC) from on Sunday, warning that protesters would continue to organize a sit-in before the obstacles for "an indefinite period."

"The AJK government should remove obstacles and allow protesters to cross the ceasefire line (LoC) or else the sit-in will continue in this place for an indefinite period," said Mohammad Rafiq Dar, JKLF's central spokesman, in a press conference in Jiskool, located 8 kilometers before the LoC, where the administration had placed containers, barbed wires, electricity poles and mounds of earth to block the march.

"Otherwise, the government should bring here any special representative of the UN Secretary General, as well as the representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council so that we can give them our letter of demands," he added. Dar, who was flanked by JKLF's acting interim president, Abdul Hameed Butt, and other leaders.

"How can we lead a normal life here when our brothers and sisters across the ceasefire line are going through nightmare conditions at the hands of the Indian army," he questioned.

The JKLF spokesman said the best option in the prevailing situation was the deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces in Jammu and Kashmir until a referendum was held to determine the cashmere's opinion about their future.

He said other demands would be shared soon in the form of a memo.

The protesters led by the JKLF had arrived in Jiskool on Sunday afternoon to be greeted by roadblocks. While most of them returned to Chinari and other back areas for the night, the leaders and many others took refuge under a large canopy that was erected on the main road late at night.

On Sunday night, two members of the AJK cabinet had also tried to convince the JKLF leaders to suspend their march, but it was in vain.

On Monday, the participants of the march met once more in Jiskool. Armed police personnel were on duty at the top of the containers, as well as in the mountains at the edge of the road.

Among the participants was a 15-year-old boy, Umar Jamil, from Khuiratta tehsil, from the Kotli district. "I have been part of this march for the last four days […] I only have one goal, to break this dividing line and reach Srinagar, ”said the teenager, who wore a green shawl to keep warm on a cold and windy day.

Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a Muzaffarabad business leader who was with the protesters, said he had not seen so much passion and energy among the participants of any Kashmir-related event in the recent past.

By noon, the police allowed a small procession from Chakothi to overcome obstacles and offer fresh food and fruits to protesters, according to the videos shared on social networks.

In Muzaffarabad, official sources said AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider presided over a meeting on the subject in his office, with the president of the Legislative Assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir, AJK Information Minister Mushtaq Minhas, and other officials interested among the participants.