LONDON — As political unrest continues to grip Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a prominent exile political party is issuing an urgent appeal: keep talking, or risk violence.
The United Kashmir People’s National Party, speaking through its central spokesman Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, has thrown its weight behind continued negotiations between local authorities and the Joint Awami Action Committee, a coalition representing popular grievances in the disputed region. The message from London was unambiguous, dialogue remains the only viable path forward.
“Walking away from the table now would be counterproductive and could harm the broader public interest,” Khan said following a high-level meeting of party leaders. His words carry particular weight in a region where decades of territorial dispute between India and Pakistan have left ordinary Kashmiris caught in a perpetual state of political limbo.
The Joint Awami Action Committee’s movement, Khan emphasized, has thus far remained peaceful and legitimate, rooted in genuine local grievances over governance, economic hardship, and political marginalization. But the UKPNP fears that abandoning negotiations could provide authorities with justification for a violent crackdown.
“Violence in any form will only deepen suffering and undermine legitimate demands,” Khan warned. “A firm commitment to non-violence must remain central to all actions and decisions.”
The party’s intervention comes at a delicate moment. While some progress has apparently been made in talks between the committee and officials, implementation has lagged. The UKPNP is calling for immediate formal notifications on matters where consensus already exists, arguing that tangible benefits to the population could help build trust and momentum.
But beyond immediate grievances over electricity prices and subsidies ssues that have sparked recent protests, the UKPNP is articulating a broader vision that challenges the very foundations of the current arrangement. For decades, the party notes, the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan, with families separated and fundamental rights denied.
“Any unilateral or bilateral decisions taken by the occupying powers, without the consent of the people, will not be acceptable,” Khan declared, laying down what the party considers non-negotiable red lines: no violence, no further division of Jammu and Kashmir, no accession to either India or Pakistan without popular consent.
The UKPNP also raised alarm about what it characterized as ongoing violations of the State Subject Rule of 1927, a regulation designed to protect the demographic and political character of Kashmir by restricting permanent residency and property rights. The party is demanding cancellation of what it calls forged certificates that undermine the legal status of genuine indigenous residents.
Khan’s rhetoric alternated between conciliation and defiance. While emphasizing peaceful dialogue as the chosen path, he was careful to distinguish patience from weakness. “The future of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be decided by unilateral deals, bilateral deals, coercion, or expediency,” he said. “It belongs to its people alone, and they must have the final and decisive say.”
The statement reflects a longstanding position among Kashmiri nationalist groups that self-determination; rather than integration into either neighboring state, should be the ultimate resolution to one of South Asia’s most enduring conflicts.
Whether authorities in Azad Kashmir or the capitals of Islamabad and New Delhi will heed such calls remains uncertain. But the UKPNP’s intervention underscores a persistent truth; behind every geopolitical chess match over Kashmir lie millions of people whose voices have yet to be meaningfully heard.
