Refugees’ Committee urges AJK Govt to reserve two Assembly seats for 1989 Refugees

The Jammu and Kashmir Refugees Working Committee has urged the Government of Azad Kashmir to allocate two reserved seats for refugees of 1989 in the upcoming elections of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in order to represent the 30,000 refugees, and emphasizing that securing a dignified political identity and effective representation for the new generation is an essential part of their struggle

MUZAFFARABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Apr, 2026) The Jammu and Kashmir Refugees Working Committee has urged the Government of Azad Kashmir to allocate two reserved seats for refugees of 1989 in the upcoming elections of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in order to represent the 30,000 refugees, and emphasizing that securing a dignified political identity and effective representation for the new generation is an essential part of their struggle.

In a joint statement issued to the media here on Tuesday, the members of the Working Committee—including Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, Chaudhry Feroz-ud-Din, Raja Muhammad Arif Khan, Muhammad Latif Lone, Chaudhry Tikka Khan, Riaz Ahmed Jarral, Gohar Ahmed Kashmiri, Chaudhry Muhammad Mushtaq, Khawaja Muhammad Iqbal, Bilal Ahmed Farooqi, Irshad Ahmed Bhat, Muhammad Iqbal Mir, Muhammad Younis Mir, Manzoor Iqbal Bhat, Sarandaz Mir, Raja Sajid Khan, Iqbal Yaseen Awan, Irfan Ahmed Bhat, Fayaz Jagwal, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Muhammad Altaf Chaudhry, Javed Ahmed Minhas, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashfaq, Chaudhry Badr Hussain, Abdul Hameed Lone, Chaudhry Noor Hussain, Haji Rangeel Bhat, Usman Ali Hashim, Raja Muhammad Imtiaz Khan, Qazi Muhammad Iftikhar, Raja Fazakat Khan, Qazi Muhammad Mudassar, Umar Jan, Raja Imtiaz Ali Khan, Sajjad Ahmed Bhat, Anzar Ahmed Bhat, Muhammad Shafi Bhatti, Khawaja Ghulam Lasani, Raja Muhammad Farooq Khan, Muhammad Aslam Inqalabi, Sardar Ishtiaq Awan, Muhammad Fayaz Khan, Faisal Farooq, Chaudhry Saif-ud-Din, Naeem Sajjad, Ali Mehdi Dar, Muhammad Waseem Kiani, Riaz Khan Sehrai, Mukhtiar Hussain Bhatti, Syed Abdul Rahim Shah, Abdul Shakoor Khan, and Sardar Khurshid Ahmed along with elected councillors and camp representatives, stated that refugees of 1989 have been deprived of their political identity and basic rights.

The committee urged the Government of AJK and all parliamentary parties to allocate one seat each for refugees from Jammu and the Kashmir Valley before the upcoming elections to represent the Kashmiri refugees to address their grievances, enabling them to elect their representatives through a democratic electoral process.

The joint statement highlighted that the absence of representation of 1989 refugees in the AJK Assembly, despite AJK being regarded as the base camp of the Kashmir freedom movement.

The leaders further emphasized that through the elected representatives, the refugees of 1989 would be able to seek an opportunity to raise their issues on the floor of the House of AJK Legislative Assembly, including the completion of the rehabilitation process, in getting basic rights, and socio-economic challenges, more effectively in the Assembly.

They also stressed the need to take serious cognizance of the ongoing violation of human rights, and the war crimes allegedly involving Indian forces under the cover of draconian law in Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir and highlight on the Assembly floor and all other possible forums.

The leaders also strongly condemned the killing of Rashid Ahmed Mughal in an alleged fake encounter by Indian forces in Ganderbal district, calling it a continuation of state oppression and human rights abuses in the region.