Campaign for empowered local governments kicks start in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

21 April 2019 | Press Release
Around two dozen activists from various political parties, youth groups and civil society got together and decided to start a campaign for the early initiation of local bodies’ elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It is the first civic initiative of its sort where people, cutting across the party lines, have demonstrated a keen interest in organizing a joint campaign geared towards substantive reforms in the governance of the region.

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AJK’s discontent over water resources

03 March 2019 | Ershad Mahmud
Mirpur’s drinking water and other issues related to hydropower projects such as Neelum-Jhelum and Kohala merit an urgent intervention by the federal government.

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Professors from Massachusetts University suggests people to people contacts and exchange programs to improve Pakistan’s image

08 February 2019 | Islamabad
Center for Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR), hosted a group of Professors from the University of Massachusetts here in Islamabad. The event was attended by people from cross section of the society including political activists, journalists, youth leaders and academicians.

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Designed to fail

23 December 2018 | Ershad Mahmud
Sustained street protests by people in AJK have brought the CPEC-funded Kohala Hydro Power Project to a grinding halt People in Muzaffarabad, capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, have taken to the streets for the last few months and are running a sustained protest campaign against 1124 MW Kohala Hydro Power Project, seeking drastic changes in its design.

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Line that knows No Control

04 November 2018 | Ershad Mahmud
Poonch has been divided between India and Pakistan for the last seven decades but a yearning for togetherness is fast growing among the communities on both sides of the barbed-wire fence. A personal journey from Poonch to other parts of Kashmir.

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Devolution of power in AJK

10 June 2018 | Ershad Mahmud
The promulgation of Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution Act, 1974 on June 1, 2018 enables the government in Muzaffarabad to take major economic decisions and is being widely celebrated.

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