Jammu: After its recent “Delhi Chalo” protest call on July 20, the ruling National Conference, along with almost all opposition parties, except the BJP, has called for protests across Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decisions that abrogated Article 370 and Article 35A and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The protests have been announced despite the Jammu and Kashmir Police reportedly denying permission for any demonstrations across the Union Territory. Sources said the authorities have warned of strict legal action against any unauthorized protest and appealed to the public to maintain peace and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
While the ruling National Conference has issued a circular calling for district-level protests across the Jammu province on August 5 to demand the restoration of statehood, the party’s Rajya Sabha leader Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan has further taken the campaign to the national level by inviting the leaders of India Bloc to join his party’s “peaceful protest outside Parliament tomorrow, seeking the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The invitation was extended during a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders held in the chamber of Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other alliance leaders attended the meeting to discuss key parliamentary issues and the bloc’s strategy for the ongoing Monsoon Session.
He requested the leaders of various political parties to join his party in a “peaceful protest” at Makar Dwar “to collectively voice their concern over the unilateral decisions taken by the central government concerning J&K and to reiterate their demand for the restoration of its full statehood”.
The leader said “the Government of India has repeatedly assured on the floor of Parliament that statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be restored. The people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to await the fulfillment of this solemn commitment”.
Talking to the reporters in Srinagar, the NC party president Dr Farooq Abdullah asked the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to fulfill its promise. “They have promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the country… they should fulfill the promise (of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir”, he said.
In Jammu, the NC provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta announced his party would observe August 5 as “black day” to mark the “unconstitutional and unilateral” abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional guarantees in 2019, and to register a strong protest against the Centre’s “refusal” to restore statehood.
In a statement issued by the NC headquarters here, Gupta said August 5 remains one of the “darkest days” in the constitutional and democratic history of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The decisions taken on that day stripped the people of their constitutional safeguards and were imposed without their consent, undermining the principles of democracy, federalism and constitutional propriety. The people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to bear the political, constitutional and emotional consequences of those decisions,” he said.
Gupta said that while the BJP has repeatedly claimed that the downgrading of the erstwhile state was temporary, its continued reluctance to restore statehood has exposed the hollowness of its promises.
“The people were assured that statehood would be restored at the earliest, yet years have passed without any concrete action. Instead of fulfilling its solemn commitment, the Centre has chosen to prolong uncertainty and deny the people their legitimate democratic rights,” he said.
Similarly, NC’s coalition partner, Congress party has also announced that it will organize demonstrations in front of Rajiv Bhawan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters to observe the day as “black day” and press for the restoration of statehood along with constitutional guarantees for land, jobs and natural resources.
On the eve of August 5, former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti held a candle light protest against August 5 2019 decisions, reiterating her party’s “unwavering commitment to the restoration of the constitutional rights, identity, and dignity of the people of Jammu & Kashmir”.
“The peaceful demonstration reaffirmed the PDP’s resolve to continue its democratic struggle for justice and the guarantees that were taken away on August 5, 2019,” a party spokesperson said.
She has also directed party leaders to hold district-level protests across Jammu & Kashmir on August 5, demanding the restoration of Article 370. The decision was taken by Mehbooba Mufti during a meeting of senior leaders and office-bearers recently. The party has directed all functionaries to participate in the demonstrations and use only officially approved campaign material.
