MUZAFFARABAD: Almost 13 hours of negotiations between the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and two federal ministers collapsed early Thursday morning, after a deadlock emerged over the abolition of elite privileges and seats reserved for the Pakistan based refugees from Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The JKJAAC negotiators walked out of the talks, declaring them `incomplete and inconclusive` and vowing that the lockdown would be observed with full force.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, federal ministers Engr Ameer Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry maintained that the dialogue had taken place in a `very positive and pleasant atmosphere,` and that all practicable demands of the action committee falling within the jurisdiction of the AJK and federal governments had been accepted.

`However, issues that require constitutional amendments or subordinate legislation by the Parliament (Legislative Assembly) cannot be decided by a few people in a closed room. That is why the negotiations ended without results,` the ministers remarked.

They stressed that Islamabad had made efforts to ensure that AJK citizens not only enjoyed all fundamental rights but also their protection, pointing to subsidies on flour and electricity.

`Nowhere in Pakistan do people get electricity at Rs3 per unit or flour at Rs50 per kilo. These concessionsare extended only to the people of AJK in recognition of their sacrifices,` they asserted.

The ministers said progress had been made on pending matters related to the December 8 agreement and on the JKJAAC`s 38-point charter of demands, until the negotiating team `suddenly created a deadlock` by pressing for abolition of elite perks and the 12 refugee seats.

`Even then we made sincere efforts to resolve matters, but the committee abruptly chose to walk away, which clearly shows they have some other agenda,`Mr Chaudhry alleged.

He nonetheless added that the government`s `doors for dialogue are still open` and urged the JKJAAC to `realise its national and collective responsibilities.

Confirming the breakdown, JKJAAC core member Shaukat Nawaz Mir told the media that members had unanimously agreed that talks could not be completed without scrapping elite privileges and refugee seats.

`Therefore, after mutual consultation, we announced to end the negotiations,` he said.

Still, he acknowledged progress on several issues and expressed satisfaction with the attitude of the federal ministers and the official team.

The talks had begun around 4:30pm Wednesday after the arrival of the JKJAAC negotiators in Muzaffarabad, with breaks for prayers and meals. From the AJK government`s ministerial team, minister for higher education Zafar Iqbal Malik withdrew from the process at the very outset on the demand of the JKJAAC, while Chaudhry Qasim Majeed and Sardar Amir Altaf also stayed away from laterrounds.

However, Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore and Deevan Ali Chughtai remained in the committee room with the federal ministers until the end, alongside the AJK chief secretary Khushal Khan and inspector general of police Rana Abdul Jabbar.

After the talks ended, JKJAAC negotiators left the venue with a large number of supporters, chanting slogans. The federal ministers left for Islamabad after noon on Thursday.

Meanwhile, videos circulating on social media before dawn showed large contingents of security forces arriving in Muzaffarabad in around 85 vehicles, fuelling speculation and unease among JKJAAC supporters and citizens.

Late on Thursday night, Shaukat Nawaz Mir, JKJAAC core committee member from Muzaffarabad, addressed a large gathering at the city`s iconic Lal Chowk in Upper Adda to brief people on the negotiation process.

He thanked the federal government for realising the gravity of the situation in AJK and detailing two honourable cabinet members to facilitate the negotiation process.

`Ours is not a political platform.

Those who talk sense are bound to win our appreciation, while those who criticise us cannot escape our ire,` he said.

Touching upon the issue of 12 refugee seats, he alleged that they had been used to usurp the rights of the people living within AJK.

`It is unjust to link these seats with the Kashmir freedom movement,` he said, and added: `We urge the federal government and our institutions not to stand behind what is wrong or those who are in the wrong.