Political parties hit the streets, demand restoration of statehood
Jammu/Srinagar: Congress, National Conference, and PDP workers on Tuesday hit the streets here, demanding the restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The protests were held on the sixth anniversary of the revocation of the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370, and its bifurcation into two Union Territories.
The three parties, along with Jammu-based All Parties United Morcha (APUM) – a group of various social and political parties -, observed August 5 as a “black day” in a denunciation of the downgrading of the state in 2019.
Pradesh Congress Committee working president Raman Bhalla, along with former minister Lal Singh and Taranjit Singh Tony, used a crane to garland the statue of the last Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, at Tawi bridge in the heart of the city.
“Today’s black day protest is part of our intensified campaign under ‘Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq’ to seek restoration of pride and glory of this historic Dogra state, which was destroyed by the BJP on August 5, 2019,” Bhalla told reporters while leading the protest.
The party’s J-K chief spokesperson, Ravinder Sharma, said the BJP undermined the democratically elected government and is running the affairs through a “remote control” from Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s office.
“The assembly elections were held on the directions of the Supreme Court last year, but the popular government is not allowed to work. They have lost the elections but are still running the government through the LG office, and as a result of the dual rule, the people are suffering,” he said.
He said the Supreme Court has directed for restoration of statehood to J&K “as soon as possible,” but even after 10 months of the order, the Centre remains reluctant to restore statehood.
“Our demand for restoration of full-fledged statehood under ‘Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq’ will continue to mobilise support and expose the BJP. We are now going for a chain hunger strike from August 9 to 21, hoping that the BJP will see reason and restore statehood to J&K during the ongoing Monsoon session of the parliament,” Sharma said.
The Congress staged similar demonstrations at all district headquarters.
An attempt by its workers to take out a rally was scuttled in Rajouri by police, who also briefly detained MLA Iftikhar Ahmad and several others.
Workers of the ruling National Conference, led by provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta, staged a protest outside party headquarters on Residency Road in Jammu.
The protesters had to abort their march when police stopped them, and they were forced to return to the party office.
PDP workers raised a demonstration outside party headquarters in the Gandhi Nagar area of the city.
Meanwhile, police foiled a protest march by the ruling National Conference (NC) in Srinagar.
Led by NC Kashmir president Showkat Ahmad Mir, MLAs and senior leaders assembled at the party headquarters Nawa-i-Subah here and raised slogans against the Centre’s decision taken on August 5, 2019, and called for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Raising slogans like “August 5, 2019, decisions are not acceptable”, “Black laws are not acceptable” and “Restore Articles 370 and 35A”, the protesters tried to march towards the Lal Chowk city centre but were not allowed to step out of the party office complex by police, who shut the gates of Nawa-i-Subah.
NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said police did not allow the party leaders to move out and even “pushed some leaders”.
“Our MLA Salman Sagar was injured in the melee. He suffered foot injuries,” Dar said.
He said the NC activists wanted to march towards the historic clock tower at Lal Chowk to register their protest against the Centre’s August 2019 decisions.
“We also wanted to press our demand for the restoration of statehood as it has been six years now (since Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded to a union territory),” he added.
Meanwhile, Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone said August 5 will always be a “brutal reminder of undermining of democracy” and “an ugly example of selective targeting”.
“This was the day when whatever little was left from the glories of the past was taken away. I will never lose hope. We will get what has been taken away. If the glories don’t last, the inglorious won’t last either,” Lone said in a post on X.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said August 5 is a “painful reminder of a dark moment in our recent history”.
“On this day in 2019, the sudden and sweeping constitutional changes by Centre left deep scars on the hearts and minds of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I have said it before and I will say it again: New Delhi must uphold the dignity and democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The restoration of these rights is not an act of generosity, it is a constitutional and moral obligation,” Bukhari wrote on X.
He said the region has gone through a prolonged phase of violence and bloodshed, and the people have suffered immensely over the past several decades, and “therefore they long for peace, justice, and dignity — fundamental aspirations that can no longer be ignored”.
“This is the right time for New Delhi to initiate a genuine, inclusive and meaningful dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in order to address their issues and grievances and move towards a lasting resolution,” Bukhari said.
