By Staff Reporter
MUZAFFARABAD: The police chief of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday warned residents at home and abroad to guard against AI-generated disinformation, as the government suspended more than a dozen state employees, lodged a formal complaint against a foreign media outlet and deployed law enforcement to clear roads blocked by a banned opposition group.
Inspector General of Police (retd) Captain Liaqat Ali Malik told reporters in Muzaffarabad that the territory was operating in what he described as a “hybrid warfare” environment, in which sophisticated digital tools were being used to fabricate and amplify false narratives about conditions on the ground.
“False and fabricated news has become one of the biggest challenges of modern times,” Malik said. “Advances in artificial intelligence are enabling the creation of false narratives to mislead the public.”
Malik specifically rejected allegations — including those in a report by a foreign broadcaster he declined to name — that vehicles carrying food and essential commodities had been blocked from entering AJK. He said all major entry points, including Kohala, Azad Pattan and Bararkot, were open to all traffic and subject only to routine security checks.
He attributed disruptions in parts of the territory to activists of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a group banned under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act on June 5, saying they had erected barriers, attacked goods-laden trucks and intimidated drivers. Law enforcement agencies were regularly clearing obstructions, he said, though he acknowledged that some areas of Rawalakot continued to face disruptions.
“Members of the proscribed organisation are stopping goods vehicles, looting their cargo and intimidating drivers in certain areas,” Malik said, adding that these actions were responsible for much of the hardship being experienced by citizens.
He urged overseas Pakistanis — particularly members of the Kashmiri diaspora in the United Kingdom and Europe — to verify information through official government channels and social media accounts before sharing it.
GOVERNMENT CLAMPS DOWN ON EMPLOYEES
In a parallel move that signalled a broadening of state action, authorities issued a series of official notifications suspending at least 16 public-sector workers accused of participating in or facilitating sit-ins organised by the banned outfit. Those suspended included three employees of the electricity department, eight teachers, a laboratory assistant and two support staff from the education department, and two workers attached to a medical college.
Official sources said the government was determined to act against any employee found supporting those it accused of challenging the writ of the state, and warned that further disciplinary measures, up to and including dismissal from service, could follow.
ISLAMABAD PROTESTS TO FOREIGN WEBSITE
The federal Ministry of Information and Broadcasting separately lodged a formal complaint with an unidentified foreign website over what it described as the publication of “fake news” alleging that vehicles carrying food were being blocked in AJK.
In a statement, the ministry said the report was based on “unverified and uncorroborated allegations” and had disregarded official facts and statements already on public record. It said the incident was not isolated, alleging that the repeated publication of unverified claims about AJK had become a recurring pattern that required corrective measures.
PARTIAL SHUTDOWN, FUEL QUEUES
On the ground in AJK, the picture on Thursday was uneven. Witnesses reported a partial shutdown across Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions, where the JAAC’s ongoing strike call carried some force, while life in Mirpur division was described as largely normal.
In Muzaffarabad, long queues formed outside the city’s sole petrol station permitted to sell fuel in limited quantities — one of the measures imposed under government orders that also extended to internet services. Residents arrived carrying plastic bottles and small containers, seeking enough fuel for motorcycles and household generators.
Late on Thursday, the JAAC said it would continue its protest campaign through what it described as peaceful sit-ins, appearing to dispel speculation that it was preparing a long march on the capital.
The JAAC was banned on June 5, weeks after violent protests in AJK. The proscription came days before the group’s planned June 9 demonstration demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK legislative assembly reserved for refugees who migrated to Pakistan from Indian-controlled Kashmir after 1947 — a long-running grievance that has periodically fuelled unrest in the territory.
Malik and AJK’s Chief Secretary Khushal Khan had held an earlier press conference on June 23 to address what officials said were false claims about traffic obstruction, the latest such briefing reflecting the government’s concern that the information war around the crisis had become as significant as events on the ground.
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