SRINAGAR – Reiterating that his party’s position on the ‘unilateral, unconstitutional and undemocratic decisions taken on this day in 2019 will never change, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said NC will continue its democratic and peaceful battle for restoration of special status of J&K.
Farooq made these comments while addressing a meeting of party functionaries here at NC’s headquarters Nawa-e-Subha, Srinagar on the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A. “August 5 decision was a lethal assault on the country’s secular visage, its pluralistic and asymmetrical federalism and violation of sovereign promises made by the country to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said.
He said the abrogation of Articles 370, Article 35-A, besides downgrading of J&K into two UTs are few milestones for which the people of J&K would never forgive the present government.
Among others NC General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar, Additional General Secretary Dr Mustafa Kamal, Provincial President Nasir Aslam Wani, Senior Leaders Mubarak Gul, State Women’s Wing President Shameema Firdous, Central Zone President Ali Muhammad Dar, Provincial Secretary Showkat Ahmed Mir also addressed the functionaries, an NC spokesperson said.
He said those who spoke on the occasion termed the August 5, 2019 decisions of the incumbent ruling dispensation in New Delhi as a catastrophic event in the recent history of Jammu and Kashmir that gave a death knell to the vital democratic, political, constitutional, cultural, economic interests of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
“In the run up for abrogation on the fateful day of august 5, 2019, it was said that the rationale behind the decisions was to facilitate the integration and bring about better administration. Two years have passed since, not a single promise has materialized on ground. The decisions have only managed to suspend democracy in the state, and put all the crucial institutions on death bed. As against facilitating the integration and bringing the region at par with other states, as was promised, the GOI has inversely been thrusting custom made top bottom decisions on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Post unilateral abrogation of its status, the region has been put on much lower pedestal than other constituent units of the union,” the functionaries said.
The functionaries said that the decisions have come with a steep cost to people of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh in the shape of collapsed economy, growing administrative inertia, and development deficit as well. “A choked atmosphere has been created in J&K. The idea of peace still remains elusive. BJP’s drum beating has not helped it gloss over the fall out of its imprudent decisions. Huge barriers have been placed aimed to deny political space to voices of dissent be it political or from the media fraternity. The employees and youth have been pushed to the wall by New Delhi without any hesitation. The successive executive orders post abrogation in the shape of issuance of domicile certificates, curbs on media, intimidation of government employees, discriminatory rules on employment are some of the top down authoritarian diktats that have been pushed down the throats of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” they said.
