By Staff Reporter
MUZAFFARABAD: The newly elected prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir told business leaders and students on Saturday that his government would restore internet access at schools and lift road restrictions with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within days, an attempt to calm a region shaken by months of deadly protests and a communications blackout that has choked commerce and closed classrooms.
Barrister Iftikhar Gillani, addressing reporters during a visit to the Central Press Club, said his administration was also drafting a policy to help the business community recover losses tied to the shutdown, particularly in Mirpur, where merchants have warned that prolonged disruptions could force industrial closures.
“We will try to restore business activity and help recover the losses,” Gillani said.
The unrest has roiled the disputed territory since early June, when the banned Joint Awami Action Committee launched a long march and sit-in in Rawalakot that triggered months of strikes, roadblocks and clashes with security forces. The death toll, disputed between protest organisers and authorities, has been estimated at anywhere from roughly 30 to more than 60 people. Mobile and internet service across much of the territory has been suspended for weeks at a stretch, cutting off banking, disrupting the flow of essential goods and forcing a staggered, three-phase election that only concluded in recent days.
Gillani, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker newly elected as the region’s prime minister, said the situation in Rawalakot — the epicenter of the unrest — remained a particular concern, and pledged his government would work to bring it under control.
He described the disruption to children’s schooling as his administration’s foremost priority. “I will make every effort to have internet services restored in educational institutions within the next few days,” he said.
He was equally direct about the checkpoints and closures that have restricted movement between Azad Kashmir and neighbouring provinces for weeks. “I assure you that these closures will no longer be visible anywhere in the next one or two days,” Gillani said. “There will be no restrictions or hindrances of any kind on movement.”
Gillani was accompanied at the press club by two fellow PML-N legislators, Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain and Dr. Mustafa Bashir Abbasi.
A call for unity, and credit to party leaders
Beyond the immediate crisis, Gillani framed his visit as an appeal for political cohesion in a territory now governed by a fresh slate of lawmakers. He said the recent election of younger PML-N legislators had brought what he called a “clear change” to the region’s politics, and expressed confidence that his team could deliver results.
“Our entire team has the ability to deliver,” he said. “It has delivered in the past and will deliver again, and you will all see that delivery.”
He argued that any government serious about solving the territory’s problems should avoid actions that sow discord internally or signal division to the outside world.
Gillani credited former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with doubling AJK’s development budget during his tenure, saying the increase had produced visible improvements, including the Central Press Club building itself, which he said was constructed with federal PML-N resources. He also thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for establishing Danish schools in four AJK districts, calling the initiative evidence of the party leadership’s commitment to the region.
He appealed to journalists to help foster what he described as a more constructive public discourse, urging society to move past what he called the pursuit of “fame and views” toward building a more educated and developed Azad Kashmir.
“This is also the purpose of my visit to the Press Club today,” he said.
Electric buses, and a promise kept
Earlier in the day, Gillani toured the terminal built for a fleet of electric buses donated to AJK by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Sardar Mohammad Zafar, senior member of the Board of Revenue, briefed the prime minister on the service’s planned routes and rollout. Gillani inspected the vehicles, reviewed terminal facilities and issued directions to officials on the ground.
He thanked Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz for following through on a pre-election commitment to provide the buses, framing the initiative as part of a broader PML-N push to reduce hardship and expand public services in the territory.
“I assure the people of Azad Kashmir that the PML-N government will work to reduce their problems and address their sense of deprivation,” Gillani said. “We will make every effort to improve their lives and ensure that the people feel the difference of having a PML-N government in place.”
Gillani departed for Lahore later Saturday, where he is scheduled to meet Sunday with Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
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