MUZAFFARABAD: In a consequential initiative, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Wednesday decided to overhaul the ‘Jammu Kashmir Liberation Cell’ (JKLC) to help the institution fulfil the primary objectives of its creation.

The JKLC was raised in July 1987 by Sardar Sikandar Hayat-led government to “highlight the just struggle of freedom seeking Kashmiris in India-occupied Kashmir at national and international levels through different means” with the prime minister as its chairman.

Until 2001, the institution was a non-auditable entity and was headed by academics, retired civil and military officers of standing or seasoned political activists. However, after the promulgation of an ordinance in 2009 which brought it under the audit net, the governments started posting civil servants as its secretary.

The JKLC meets its expenditures from ‘Kashmir cess’, levied on all salaries drawn and payments (of contracts) made from the AJK exchequer, as well as on the sale of properties.

Most of the expenses on foreign tours of government functionaries to highlight the Kashmir cause are also met from JKLC funds.

However, for a long time, this institution has also gained notoriety for becoming an employment hub for the ruling party workers.

Soon after coming to power, the present government had also made around 42 discretionary appointments, mostly from Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s constituency, in JKLC against lump sum salaries.

However, there were indications for some time that Mr Niazi was contemplating revamping this institution “to close the doors of politically motivated appointments” in it for good.

The premier convened an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to mull over measures to achieve the same goal, according to official sources.

The meeting resolved to rename “Liberation Cell” as “Liberation Commission,” and tasked it with devising a comprehensive strategy to project the just cause of Kashmir.

The commission would promote the Kashmiri narrative regarding indigenous and just struggle for freedom from Indian subjugation in addition to taking steps in accordance with modern demands to document and highlight the unrelenting crimes against humanity in the occupied territory, the meeting decided.

It also decided that the institution would be purged of “political appointments”.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2022