The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) said on Monday that an assembly election should be held only after Jammu and Kashmir is restored to full statehood. The PAGD, on the other hand, did not say whether the alliance or its constituents will meet with the Delimitation Commission, which will be in Jammu and Kashmir starting July 6.
The PAGD said in a statement issued after its first meeting following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s all-party meeting on Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi on June 24 that the “struggle to undo” the 5 August 2019 changes will “continue for as long as it takes while striving to achieve this objective as soon as possible.”
The PAGD met at Dr Farooq Abdullah’s Srinagar residence on Sunday evening under his chairmanship. At the meeting, all of the alliance’s leaders were present, including Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and M Y Tarigami, the alliance’s chief spokesperson. Hasnain Masoodi, Justice(retd), Javed Mustafa Mir, and Muzaffar Ahmed Shah also served as presidents.
“The PAGD reiterated its commitment to fight together to reverse the unconstitutional and unacceptable changes imposed on the people of J&K on August 5, 2019, using all constitutional, legal, and political means at its disposal,” said M Y Tarigami, the alliance’s spokesman, in a statement to GNS.
He said that all members of the PAGD were disappointed with the outcome of the Delhi meeting, particularly the lack of any significant Confidence Building Measures, such as the release of political and other prisoners from jails and concrete steps to end the “siege and atmosphere of suppression that has engulfed J&K since 2019.”
The PAGD stated, “This would have kicked off the much-needed process of reaching out to the people of J&K, who are the biggest stakeholders and sufferers of the J&K problem.”
The PAGD stated that the BJP’s commitment to restore statehood was made on the floor of the Parliament and that they must keep their word. “As a result, any assembly election must take place only after J&K regains full statehood. In order to achieve this, the PAGD has decided to reach out to other political parties in J&K in order to form a united front on the issue,” he added.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
