Dil Se Dilli Tak
Hope flows in Kashmir
The hopes of dialogue and peace in Kashmir have risen after the recent All Party Meet at Delhi .
In the first gigantic political exercise after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, the regional political party leaders raised the issue of restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir during the meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
Fourteen Jammu and Kashmir’s mainstream political leaders attended the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 June 2021.While talking to the media, Indian National Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad said that from their side, 5 demands were put forth in-front of PM Modi.
The Major five demands raised by the Congress were statehood should be restored soon, assembly elections should be conducted quickly, the Centre should guarantee lands and jobs for the people of J&K, Kashmiri Pandits living outside the Union Territory should be rehabilitated soon and the political prisoners, who have been detained prior and post August 5 decision should be released immediately.
Peoples Democratic Party’s Leader and Former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti raised the issue of restoring Article 370 in the meeting and emphasised that the people of J&K will struggle constitutionally and legally to fight for the Article.Peoples Conference’s Sajad Lone told the media that emotional bonding prevailed during the meeting.
He further did not reveal the particular discussions that took place inside the residence of the Prime Minister.
However, PC’s Muzafar Beig confirmed that the majority of the regional party leaders demanded restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
He further said that it hurt how Article 370 was abrogated but now the case is in Supreme Court of India.
Apni Party leader, Altaf Bukhari said that a positive atmosphere prevailed during the meeting.On the otherhand, Former Home Minister P. Chidambaram on his part slammed the Modi-led government for insisting on elections in Jammu and Kashmir before granting statehood.
Chidambaram said in a tweet, “Congress and other J&K parties and leaders want Statehood first and Elections afterward, Government’s response is Elections first and Statehood later.
“The horse pulls the cart. A state must conduct elections. Only such elections under a State Election Commission will be free and fair. Why does the government want the cart in front and the horse behind? It is bizarre,” he added.NC was also vocal on its vision.We told PM that we don’t stand with what was done on 5th Aug 2019. We’re not ready to accept it. But we won’t take law into hands. We’ll fight this in court. We also told PM that there’s been breach of trust b/w State & Centre. It’s Centre’s duty to restore it: Omar Abdullah, NC.
The hopes of peaceful Kashmir have been reignited with this recent all party meet.
