Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 5: Five terror incidents and protests by the PDP marked the second anniversary of the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status today as opposition parties in the Kashmir valley vowed to strive for the restoration of pre-August 2019 status of the erstwhile State.
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The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) held a meeting at the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah to assess the situation arising in Jammu and Kashmir two years after the Centre made amendments to the Constitution of the country to revoke special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcate it into two Union Territories.
The PAGD expressed concern over the situation in the union territory and resolved to continue the struggle for the restoration of the “legitimate rights” of the people of the erstwhile state.
“The alliance reiterated our resolve to continue our struggle for restoration of our legitimate rights,” CPI(M) leader and spokesman of the PAGD M Y Tarigami told reporters after the meeting.
Tarigami said despite tall claims of the Government, the situation since August 5, 2019, the day when the Centre abrogated the special status, is worsening day by day.
“They claimed that normalcy will be restored and violence will be put an end to. But look at what they have said on the floor of Parliament recently in response to a question about statehood. The Minister said that statehood will be restored only at an appropriate time when normalcy is restored,” he told reporters, adding the statement was an admission that the situation is not normal in Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah chaired a meeting of his National Conference at his party office in Srinagar where he said the party will keep up with its struggle for the restoration of the “abridged” constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The party’s position on the unilateral, unconstitutional and undemocratic decisions taken on August 5, 2019 will never change and the party will keep up with its struggle for the restoration of J-K people’s abridged constitutional and democratic rights,” Abdullah said.
The NC president termed the decisions taken on August 5, 2019 a lethal assault on the country’s secular visage, its pluralistic and asymmetrical federalism and violation of sovereign promises made by the country to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti took to streets in protest against the revocation of the special status.
Wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists led by Mehbooba took out a protest march from the party’s head office near Sher-e-Kashmir Park in Srinagar but were stopped barely 100 metres away by a contingent of police and turned back.
Speaking to reporters, Mehbooba said August 5 was a day of mourning for Jammu and Kashmir.
“Today is a day of mourning for J-K. BJP Government started oppression, barbarism in 2019. It is unfortunate that BJP is celebrating across the country, while Kashmir is mourning…. We condemn this oppression; this will not work. We will resist it,” she said.
Hurriyat Conference (M) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today strongly resented and opposed what he called “unilateral and arbitrary actions” of Aug 5, 2015.
Hurriyat stated that it would like to draw attention of the citizens of India and the world at large, that the present Indian Government’s actions of August 5,2019 has “only complicated the issue further”, in J&K.
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