MUZAFFARABAD: A government decision to dole out a Rs23 billion subsidy to placate violent protests in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) failed to pacify the region after three people were shot dead and six sustained injuries due to firing and teargas shelling by the paramilitary Rangers in Muzaffarabad on Monday.
Shortly before the violence, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and AJK PM Anwarul Haq after a meeting approved the release of Rs23 billion for AJK on account of power and wheat subsidies.
The subsidised rate for 40kg flour will be Rs2,000, down from Rs3,100. The electricity tariff was reduced to Rs3, Rs5 and Rs6 per unit for up to 100, 300, and more than 300 units, respectively. The AJK government also issued notifications to this effect for the satisfaction of protesters.
Rangers, called in to maintain law and order in the state, were supposed to return to the Pakistani territory after the PM’s announcement. Instead of moving out of the territory via Brarkot — the village bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — they chose to exit the region from Kohala. As the 19-vehicle convoy, including five trucks, reached Muzaffarabad in a “charged atmosphere”, it was pelted with rocks near Shorran da Nakka village, to which they responded with teargas and firing.
After entering the city through the Western Bypass, the Rangers were welcomed with rocks again, prompting them to use teargas and bullets. The shelling was so intense that the entire neighbourhood reeled from it.