AJK govt declares two-day school holiday in Muzaffarabad

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government has declared two days of school holidays in Muzaffarabad due to the long march announced by Public Action Committees on May 11 (Saturday).

In a statement, the district magistrate said, “For security reasons and to maintain the law and order situation, all private and public education institutions [universities, colleges, schools, and academies] will remain closed from May 10 to May 11 [Friday and Saturday].

Meanwhile, the district has also imposed a ban on the gathering of more than five people in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bhambir, Poonch, Haveli, Sidhonti, Neelum, and Jhelum valley under Section 144 of CrPC for 10 days.

The AJK Joint Awami Committee has also announced its shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on May 11.

The committee has claimed that its several leaders have been arrested in several cities in police crackdown.

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But IGP Suhail Habib Tajik has claimed that police have arrested some groups comprising 25 members and it has been revealed they were on the Indian intelligence agency’s “payroll” to disturb the law and order situation and spread chaos.

AJK Interior Minister Col (retd) Waqar Ahmed Noor said that the government did not want to “clash” with anyone and neither has it had any intention. He said that the government was ready to hold talks.

He added that a government officer was held hostage for four hours and a government vehicle was torched. Noor claimed that a violent group picked up a shell and threw it in the nearby school and propagated that a girl was killed, but “no such incident took place.”

The AJK Joint Action Committee listed 10 demands before the government