Is AJK About to Become Province?

I believe the recent rumours circulating on social media and in some print media about Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) becoming a province of Pakistan through an upcoming constitutional amendment are baseless and misleading. Pakistan has consistently opposed India’s August 5, 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), calling it unilateral, illegal, and against UN resolutions. If Pakistan took a similar step by making AJK a province, it would contradict its own longstanding position, damage its international credibility, and provide India with an opportunity to challenge Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir. Creating a province is a serious constitutional and administrative process that requires legal consultations, political consensus, financial planning, feasibility studies, and public acceptance. Even proposals for new provinces in Punjab and Sindh have faced years of debate and resistance. Such a decision cannot be made secretly or overnight. AJK already has its own assembly, government, courts, and institutions while maintaining strong political, social, economic, and family ties with Pakistan. Its people serve in the Pakistan Army and other institutions, study in Pakistani universities, and conduct business throughout the country. I see no logical need to change this existing arrangement. Our real objective should remain the end of India’s illegal occupation of IIOJK and the resolution of the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan has maintained AJK’s separate status in accordance with the international principles governing the Kashmir dispute, while India unilaterally revoked the special status of IIOJK without consulting its people, imposed restrictions, deployed troops, and suppressed their voices. This is the fundamental difference between the two approaches. Pakistan has kept the future of Kashmir linked to the right of self-determination and a free and fair plebiscite, a position it has consistently defended at the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and other international forums.

I believe this propaganda is intended to create confusion, division, and hostility towards Pakistan and the Pakistan Army in AJK. Certain banned JAAC and nationalist elements, having lost public support, appear to be using such rumours to regain attention and put pressure on the government. Their objective is to create unrest and weaken the existing unity between AJK and Pakistan. Similar political behaviour can also be seen in Pakistan, where some groups resort to protests and agitation when they fail to achieve their political objectives or secure a share in government. Such tactics create instability instead of addressing public concerns. Normal life in AJK, including schools, markets, offices, and daily activities, shows that people largely want peace, development, and a solution to the Kashmir dispute rather than unnecessary confrontation. These rumours also serve political interests and those of Pakistan’s enemies, who want to exploit differences and weaken national unity. If Pakistan were considering a change in the constitutional status of AJK, the question of Gilgit-Baltistan would also arise, where discussions about constitutional status have continued for years despite the relatively gradual and careful approach. This demonstrates the sensitivity and international implications of such decisions. Pakistan’s Kashmir policy is based on UN resolutions, self-determination, and the rejection of unilateral changes to the region’s status. Making AJK a province would weaken this position, damage Pakistan’s diplomatic credibility, confuse its international partners, and give India a strong argument against the Kashmiri cause. I therefore firmly believe that Pakistan has no intention of making AJK a province at this stage, and no serious official confirmation supports the claims circulating on social media. Such false propaganda should not be allowed to create fear, hatred, or instability among the people of AJK.

The silence of the official side is itself an answer to the rumours. The few print media outlets that carried the claim did so without any documentary evidence. Social media, as we know, runs on speed rather than accuracy. A single post can become a trend within hours, and a trend can look like public opinion even when it is only noise. I have seen this happen so many times. A screenshot is shared. A fake quote is attributed to a minister. A self-made video is presented as proof. People forward it without thinking. Within a day it becomes the talk of the town. Within two days it becomes a “news item”. Within three days people start saying “they are going to do it”. This is how rumours are built. But a rumour is not a policy. A trend is not a decision. And noise is not consensus. The media also has a responsibility here. Print media outlets that published the claim without verification gave it a respectability it did not deserve. Social media users who shared it without thinking added fuel to the fire. The result was confusion among ordinary people. The result was anxiety among families whose sons serve in the Pakistan Army and whose hearts are with Pakistan. The result was exactly what the anti-state elements wanted. This is why we must all be careful. We must check the source. We must ask for evidence. We must trust the official institutions. We must not become tools in the hands of those who wish to divide us.

There is also the question of consensus within AJK itself. The people of AJK have their own political parties, their own legislative assembly, their own courts, and their own institutions. Any change in their status would require their consent and their participation. It would require a debate in their assembly. It would require a national consensus in Pakistan as well. The current discussion about new provinces in Pakistan shows how difficult and slow such a process is. The provinces of Pakistan are not created by a tweet or a television ticker. They are created by constitutional amendment, by political agreement, and by administrative preparation. The same standard applies to AJK. The claim that this is being done quietly, soon, and without public knowledge is therefore not believable. It is against the very rules of how states make such decisions. And I would add one more thing. The people of AJK are not passive observers of their own future. They have a voice. They have a vote. They have an opinion. Any attempt to change their status without consulting them would be rejected by them. That rejection would be justified. It would be powerful. It would be the first obstacle any such plan would have to cross.

The mental exercise behind the rumour is not hard to see. The aim is to create doubt. The aim is to create fear. The aim is to create a gap between the people of AJK and the institutions of Pakistan. The banned JAAC and the nationalist elements have tried this before. They have failed before. They will fail again. Their public support has shrunk to the point where they need artificial controversies to stay visible. They cannot speak of their performance because they have no performance to show. They cannot speak of their plans because they have no plans. So they speak of fear. They speak of uncertainty. They speak of secret plans being hatched in Islamabad. This is old politics. It is the politics of paranoia. It is the politics of the powerless. The people have seen through it. The people have identified such elements. They have shown complete isolation from these elements and from their dirty agendas. The public response itself is proof that the rumour has failed to find roots. People in AJK know what they have with Pakistan. They know what they would lose if they fell for such rumours. The unity between AJK and Pakistan is not a slogan only. It is a lived reality, visible in everyday life and in the sacrifices made for the Kashmir cause.

I also want to say something about the timing of this rumour. It did not appear at a random moment. It appeared at a time when the political scene in Pakistan is crowded. The government is busy with economic challenges. The opposition is busy with its own campaigns. The international scene is sensitive. In such moments, rumours find space because attention is divided. The rumour-mongers know this. They pick their moments carefully. They wait for the noise of other issues to cover their own. They launch their little fire when the fire brigade is busy elsewhere. But the timing also tells us something else. It tells us that the rumour is not an accident. It is a planned act. It is a deliberate attempt to create maximum confusion with minimum effort. That is why I call it propaganda and not a simple mistake. A mistake is corrected when facts emerge. Propaganda is repeated even when facts are clear. The repetition itself is the strategy. The aim is to make people tired of the facts. The aim is to make people say “there must be something in it”. The aim is to erode trust slowly. That is why we must be alert. We must not give the rumour the space it seeks.

The current environment, as I said, is not favourable for any such decision. The economy is under pressure. The political scene is busy with many issues. The diplomatic front is sensitive. The Kashmir issue is at a delicate stage. This is not the time for experiments. This is the time for unity and patience. The people of AJK have shown this unity. They have shown this patience. They have rejected the rumour and the rumour-mongers. The anti-state elements have been exposed. Their dirty intentions have been laid bare. The people have identified them and have shown complete isolation from them and from their dirty agendas. The future of Kashmir will be decided by the people of Kashmir, in line with UN resolutions, and with the support of Pakistan. It will not be decided by social media trends or by the wishful thinking of failed political elements. It will not be decided by a few people sitting in a room and drawing lines on a map. It will be decided by history, by justice, and by the will of the people. Pakistan’s role in that future is clear. Pakistan will stand with the people of Kashmir. Pakistan will defend their right to decide. Pakistan will not do what India did. That is the promise. That is the principle. And that principle will not be broken for the sake of a short-term political trick.

The claim that AJK is about to become a province is false propaganda. It has no logical basis. It contradicts Pakistan’s principled position on Kashmir. It ignores the need for homework and consensus. It ignores the international implications. It serves the agenda of anti-state elements and of our enemies. It aims to create chaos, anarchy, division, and hate. The people of AJK have rejected it. The people of AJK know that their future is with Pakistan. The day will come, inshallah very soon, when IIOJK will be freed from Indian illegal occupation and the whole of Kashmir will become a part of Pakistan. Until then, we must remain united and vigilant. We must reject rumours. We must trust our institutions. We must keep the Kashmir cause above all other considerations. We must remember that our strength lies in unity and our weakness lies in division. The rumour-mongers know this too. That is why they try to divide us. We will not let them succeed. That is the wise path. That is the path of Pakistan. That is the path the people of AJK have chosen, and no false propaganda can change.