Srinagar: In the first major political protests after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the ruling National Conference and the opposition BJP came out on the streets on Wednesday accusing each other of failing to deliver on promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Conference (NC) accused the BJP-led Centre of not fulfilling its promise to restore statehood to J-K, while the BJP alleged that the NC government failed to deliver on its electoral promises.
Police stopped the NC protesters from marching towards the BJP headquarters in Jawahar Nagar to press for the restoration of statehood after its ministers, MLAs, leaders and workers assembled in large numbers near the Gindun Sports Complex in Rajbagh.
The party had proposed to ‘gherao’ the BJP office to protest against the Centre over the delay in restoring statehood to J&K.
However, a posse of police and other security forces stopped the protesters from proceeding towards Jawahar Nagar, with the NC accusing the police of “mishandling” its MLAs.
“The JKNC’s peaceful protest was stopped from moving forward. People were prevented from joining, and elected representatives were mishandled. Yet, when the BJP held a protest outside the Secretariat, it was allowed to proceed. What a shame!” the NC said in a post on X.
NC MLA and chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the BJP did not fulfil its promise to restore statehood to J-K.
“Where is statehood? It has been two years since the elections. The time has come to fulfil the promise made to us,” he told reporters.
Demanding restoration of statehood and the constitutional guarantees revoked by the Centre on August 5, 2019, Sadiq said the NC will continue its protest till “what was snatched from us is given back”.
The BJP too held a large protest against the alleged “failure” of the J&K government led by Omar Abdullah.
Hundreds of BJP leaders and workers assembled near the Clock Tower at Lal Chowk to protest against the NC government.
The protesters had planned a gherao of the Civil Secretariat – the seat of the J&K government – but were stopped by the police near Hari Singh High Street.
Addressing the party workers, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Sunil Sharma, said the people of J&K are facing hardships but the government is doing nothing to address their problems.
He said the protest centred around four issues – “selling” jobs instead of conducting fair recruitment; not conducting local body polls; “rampant corruption”; and power tariff hikes.
Sharma also accused Abdullah and his party of only parroting the issue of statehood and not focusing on governance.
Criticising the chief minister, the BJP leader asked if people elected him to “live like a prince and go skiing in Gulmarg and Pahalgam?”
He also dared Abdullah to resign from his home constituency Ganderbal and seek a fresh mandate over the issue of restoration of statehood to J&K.
“If you have any self-respect left, fight an election on it (statehood). Only then will we acknowledge it as your issue,” Sharma said.
He also said the issue of statehood belonged to the BJP as it has promised to the people of J&K to restore it at an appropriate time.
“If you (Abdullah) truly wish to protest on the issue of statehood, resign from Ganderbal. I challenge you from this historic venue – Crown Prince, resign over the issue of statehood and contest a fresh election.
“If people re-elect you, we will accept that statehood is your genuine issue. Otherwise, we will conclude that statehood is not your issue – it is the agenda of the BJP. Misleading the public must stop,” Sharma said.
J&K BJP chief and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Sharma said the “massive” protest by the BJP was a warning to the chief minister to either live up to people’s expectations or resign.
After the BJP protesters were allowed to assemble at the Lal Chowk and towards the Hari Singh High Street, the NC accused the administration of facilitating the saffron party.
“A tale of two protests. One, facilitated and allowed freely. The other, roughed up and restricted. Same administration, different attitude,” the NC said on X.
Notably, since August 2019, most political protests in J&K were not allowed by the authorities to pour onto the streets, prompting PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti to accuse the police of adopting double standards with different political parties.
“The same police that won’t allow PDP to step outside its office to hold a peaceful protest on public issues have facilitated both the BJP and the NC to protest against each other,” Mehbooba said on X.
She said “this blatant double standards must be explained – who authorises these selective restrictions and why the law is being applied differently to different political parties”.
Terming the NC-BJP protests as quite a spectacle and a “fixed” match, PDP MLA Waheed Para said that “with governance failing in J&K and unemployment rising, they seem to be playing a fixed match with the people who voted for them. But people aren’t spectators, they remember”.
“Today’s protests were a stark reflection of the failure of governance and the political process in J&K. Despite such a strong mandate, it is striking to see both parties taking to the streets in protest,” Para said on X.
“When an elected government is forced to protest, it raises a serious question – are Kashmiris and Jammuites now expected to look beyond their elected government to seek solutions, protect their rights, and demand accountable governance,” Para asked.
In Jammu, dozens of NC workers were detained while attempting to march towards the BJP headquarters at Trikuta Nagar seeking restoration of statehood to J-K.
Led by Jammu provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta, the NC workers assembled at the Trikuta Nagar market and were proceeding towards the BJP headquarters when they were stopped by police.
The protesters attempted to cross the barricades but were subsequently detained by police.
People sandwiched btw two power centres: Karra
Jammu: The Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Tariq Hameed Karra on Wednesday said the people of J-K were “sandwiched between two power centres” in the absence of full-fledged statehood and accused the BJP of “double standards”.
Addressing a gathering of Congress workers at Kathua to felicitate newly appointed office-bearers, Karra said the BJP had committed to restoring statehood immediately after the Assembly elections, but more than two years after an elected government took office, its leaders were maintaining silence on the issue.
“The people are sandwiched between two power centres in the absence of statehood and are feeling helpless. The Centre and the BJP are squarely responsible and answerable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Karra said.
He said that the BJP had made several promises to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of abrogation of special status and downgrading of the erstwhile state in 2019, but had “failed” to fulfil them.
‘“The youth are facing record unemployment, paper leaks and recruitment scams under the UT administration,” he alleged, adding that the Congress stood for accountability but the BJP should “start from its own house”.
Karra said the BJP’s protest over public issues was an attempt to divert people’s attention from its alleged failure to address problems during its rule.
