IT was clear that the government would eventually accept the demands of protesters in Azad Kashmir, and re-initiate talks with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) after the loss of lives and economic and infrastructural damage.

It remains to be seen when and if the promises are fulfilled. Had the government made good progress on earlier demands, the region might have been spared the recent tumult.

In fact, the pattern so far shows that the government, in other parts of the country too, engages in negotiations with protesters merely to pacify the immediate situation, rather than look for permanent solutions to honour its commitments. In some cases, voices of protest fall on deaf ears.

For instance, just days before the JAAC protest, the families of Baloch missing persons once again ended their sit-in and returned from the federal capital. The peaceful families of the missing persons were not fortunate enough to receive even minimal attention from state institutions.

One must move beyond dealing with such situations through force, temporary negotiations and eventual disregard for the demands once ‘normalcy’ is restored. This modus operandi is a relic of colonial times. Many Commonwealth states inherited this pattern, but Pakistan is among the few that appear to have stuck to the old line, without distinction or reform. Regrettably, this is the approach the government took when the JAAC launched its protest this time and earlier in Azad Kashmir.

There have been many protest movements in the country, including the........

© Dawn