Third anniversary of Article 370 abrogation: J&K parties slam Centre, seek rollback of move
Saying August 5 a Black Day, activists of the People’s Democratic Party, led by president Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday staged a protest at the city centre in Srinagar to mark the third anniversary of the revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking on the protests, Mehbooba said: “August 5 (2019) is a dark day for the entire country. The police interrupted our protest. Our constitution and our flag were taken from us unconstitutional and illegally. This has caused damage not only to Jammu and Kashmir but to the entire country.
She cautioned the people of the country and said, ‘I would like to tell you that in the coming days BJP will destroy the constitution based on secularism and democracy. That constitution would be replaced by a religious state. The Tiranga (tricolour) you hoist with pride will be replaced by the saffron flag.
Mehbooba said that what was done in Kashmir would be “repeated across the country”, Mehbooba said: “We will take back our flag and our constitution and will continue to fight to resolve the Kashmir issue.”
Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir CM and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah reiterated the party’s resolve to continue the struggle to challenge the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A.
“We will continue our peaceful struggle using all legal and constitutional means to challenge what was done to Jammu and Kashmir on 5th August 2019. The road ahead may be long, full of twists and turns. But this is not the one @JKNC_ will leave,” Umar said on Twitter.
The Sajjad Lone-led People’s Conference (PC) said that August 5 will always be “a reminder of the humiliation that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had to face three years ago”.
“After August 5, 2019, the so-called NC-PDP alliance and the BJP government at the Center have miserably failed to fulfill their commitments. While the former has supported the further deterioration in the political identity of J&K by their deceptive conduct, the latter continues to undermine the people of the erstwhile state of J&K,” the PC said.
The party also highlighted a “lack of political representation” in the UT over the last three years, despite assurances from the Centre. “As an eyewash, senior leaders of the government had assured the nation on the floor of the House that our rights will be restored to heal the wounds inflicted on the people of J&K. However, three years have passed, but they have failed to give us even the basic right to have a representative government.”
The PC said while the citizens of this country outside J&K enjoyed the basic right of electing their own representatives, “it is a pity that the people of J&K have been denied this very basic right in a functioning democracy”.
Meanwhile, M Y Tarigami, senior CPI(M) leader and spokesperson for the mainstream coalition formed in the aftermath of the abrogation, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), also reiterated the resolve to work for the restoration of constitutional guarantees to J&K previously enshrined in the Constitution.
“On this day in 2019, the central government upheld the Constitution and looted Jammu and Kashmir, which it achieved by locking thousands of people overnight after an uphill battle. We reiterate our cast iron resolve to work unitedly to restore what was snatched from
