Sheeba
JK News Today
Srinagar, June 25:
What is clear now after the conclusion of the first-ever all-party meeting on J&K on Thursday that there is a lot of disappointment in Kashmir over the way the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration leaders’ penchant to talk about agenda of others rather than of the people of the Valley .
The Valley residents, particularly youth , are angry that these leaders by raking up the issue of talks with Pakistan for resolving Kashmir issue and restoration of the Article 370 and 35A to J&K , have wrecked a glorious opportunity to highlight the problems of the people at the highest level. “ They indulged in sloganeering instead of focusing on our issues and thus failed to bring Prime Minister’s attention towards the real issues,” said Rabeena who had hoped that the PAGD leaders would show some sense of making credible presentations and get some kind of package from the Centre.
The moment Kashmiris learnt that the PAGD leaders spoke of the restoration of Article 370 and talks with Pakistan it became clear to them that the Alliance has lost it way or it was deliberately distracting the attention from the real issues. “ I am sure that had they not raked up these issues , the Centre could have promised statehood to J&K at the earliest and also announced some economic relief for the people who have lost their jobs and work,” observed Adil Bhat , an unemployed youth.
Kashmiris felt that these leaders have nothing concrete to talk about , and they have learned no lessons since the August 5, 2019, moves that resulted in doing away with the special status and privileges of the state and its bifurcation into two union territories. They have two questions to ask : “ If the government was to restore the scrapped articles of the constitution , then it would not have done away with these constitutional provisions in the first place?” The Government did after deliberations that lasted over years .
PAGD leaders should have remembered that Narendra Modi at Lalkar rally in Jammu’s MAM stadium in December 2013 had said that there needs to be a debate over the merits and demerits of Article 370 . That was more than five and a half years ago when he had wanted the Kashmiri leadership to come out with evidence that this particular article benefits them and se5rves the purpose of strengthening bonds,
At that time Umar Abdullah was chief minister of J&K, Mehbooba Mufti leader of the opposition and Farooq Abdullah a minister in the union government . The PAGD was not there, but these are the leaders who are now the leading lights of PAGD . They should have initiated the debate, which they didn’t . And when on August 5, 2019 the Centre scrapped the special status, they complained that they were not consulted . This is sheer hypocrisy. They boycotted the Municipal elections in 2018 to lodge their protest against what they said was an attempt to tamper with the special status . It all sums up to this that they had all the idea as to what would happen . But they used rhetoric of destruction , some like Farooq Abdullah spoke of following Hurriyat Conference ‘s agenda, others like Mehbooba Mufti warned of dire consequences . They had erected their own barricades and the result was that the Centre chose its timings to scrap the special status .
Kashmir is desperately looking for the return of the statehood , but the behaviour of the PAGD leaders by raking up the already settled issues have made the statehood look distant and remote.
It is the generousness of the Prime Minister and Home MInister Amit Shah to reiterate that statehood would be granted to J&K UT at an appropriate time, but the PAGD leaders b diverting the issue have mafde things difficult for the people who were waiting for early restoration of the statehood.
