Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 28: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Prof Saifuddin Soz today said the struggle of the people of Kashmir is not for statehood but for the restoration of the special status enshrined under Article 370 of the constitution of India.
“I want to reiterate my position on the prevailing political situation in Kashmir that at this critical juncture togetherness of Kashmir mainstream political parties was must to fight for common cause and purpose”, Prof Soz said in a statement today.
He said “What I had said earlier was that while any political party is entitled to withdraw from the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and promote the party, the alliance could serve the best purpose if all mainstream parties were to support it as a common cause and purpose.
At the present juncture when the Central Government is doing everything to alienate the people of Kashmir, the togetherness of the Kashmir mainstream parties is a welcome measure, he said. Prof Soz said in his opinion there is no conflict of interests among the Kashmir mainstream parties and the Kashmir political class seems to be conscious of the fact that what really matters at this critical juncture is the togetherness of Kashmiri parties.
“The writing on the wall is clear. While mainstream political parties can maintain their individuality, they should determine and maintain their togetherness for a common goal”, the Congress leader said.
Prof Soz welcomed the decision of the People’s Conference (PC) to withdraw from the PAGD recently. Without naming Apni Party (AP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, he said, certain people, are creating confusion by supporting the restoration of Statehood.
These people are deliberately diverting the attention of the people of Kashmir from their struggle for the restoration of the State’s Special Status enshrined under now abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
The people of Kashmir know that they have a cause and cause needs the struggle, he said. He said “In people’s life, it is the struggle that matters and people of Kashmir are conscious of this aspect of politics.” Mr Bukhari had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi recently and demanded restoration of Statehood.
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