Sajad Lone, Altaf Bukhari will not join NC’s Statehood protest in Delhi; Congress to take part
J&K’s two regional parties, the J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC), and the J&K Apni Party (JKAP), have decided not to join the ruling Conference’s protest in
J&K’s two regional parties, the J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC), and the J&K Apni Party (JKAP), have decided not to join the ruling Conference’s protest in New Delhi on July 20 demanding Statehood and Constitutional guarantees. The J&K Congress will however take part in the rally and also plans to hold district wise protests on July 19, a day ahead of the NC protest. JKPC chief and legislator Sajad Lone questioned both the timing and the real motive behind Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s call for a sit-in at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. “Our party stands for the pre-August 5, 2019, status of Jammu and Kashmir: Article 370, Article 35A, and full Statehood; Article 370 is the most important of the three. Major political decisions in a democracy require consensus, not unilateral calls to the street,” said Mr. Lone. Lone said the J&K Assembly “remains the constitutional voice of the people”. “On that basis, it was unacceptable that no Statehood resolution had been passed in nearly two years. My attempts to move such a resolution had been blocked by the Speaker on grounds that the matter was sub judice,” said Mr. Lone.
He said the government should have called an emergency session of the Assembly, passed a resolution on Statehood, and then send an all-party delegation, without theatrics, to meet the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. “Bypassing the assembly and taking the issue straight to Delhi would reduce the Statehood question to a fight between the BJP and the opposition at the national level, stripping the people of Jammu and Kashmir of any real role in their own cause,” said Mr. Lone. Rhetoric for public consumption He accused the NC of “inconsistency”. “The NC rushed to present shawls to central leaders even before final election results were in and later sent flowers to the Union Home Minister after Mamata Banerjee’s defeat in West Bengal, while simultaneously invoking anti-BJP rhetoric for public consumption,” said Mr. Lone. He said that dharnas historically produce little beyond media coverage, and suggested the protest also serves to distract from governance failures. J&K Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari said the NC’s proposed Jantar Mantar protest “is to empower its government not to empower people”.
“Had the NC been serious about the restoration of J&K’s statehood, it would have demanded it over the past six years, especially when the government was being formed in 2024. They were supposed to raise this issue the moment they received a huge public mandate in the elections. But they kept mum at that time. They are raising the issue now only because they want to strengthen their own government,” said Mr. Bukhari. He said his party firmly believed that the restoration of J&K’s statehood is a matter of honour and dignity for its people. “We believe in achieving our goals through democratic and political means, not through confrontation. Only a dialogue can bring back our rights including statehood. We cannot afford any confrontation, we need to convince the Centre through political means—which is holding talks,” said Mr. Bukhari. Forgotten issues He said the NC once talked about the so-called ‘Raishumari’ (plebiscite). “Later, it started demanding autonomy. Recently they campaigned promising to restore Articles 370 and 35A. Now, they no longer talk about those issues.
The BriefWire