Mehbooba Sets Conditions to Join NC Statehood Protest
PDP chief says party will join Jantar Mantar demonstration only if Article 370 restoration is included
- Mehbooba Mufti declines NC’s invitation to statehood protest.
- PDP seeks restoration of Article 370 and release of political prisoners.
- Congress backs Omar Abdullah’s July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar.
- Peoples Conference and Apni Party also stay away from demonstration.
GG News Bureau
Srinagar, 18th July: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has declined the National Conference’s invitation to join its July 20 protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, saying her party will participate only if the restoration of Article 370 and the release of political prisoners are included in the charter of demands.
In a letter to National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Mufti said limiting the protest to the restoration of statehood would undermine the larger constitutional struggle for Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
She argued that focusing solely on statehood would legitimise the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to revoke Article 370 and reorganise the former state into two Union Territories.
“Participating in a protest that is confined solely to statehood would amount to putting the last nail in the coffin of our larger constitutional struggle for Article 370,” Mufti said in a post on X.
The PDP chief also maintained that the demand for statehood should be accompanied by the restoration of Article 370 and the release of political prisoners, describing these issues as central to the party’s political position.
The National Conference, led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has invited leaders of the INDIA bloc and several opposition parties to participate in the protest seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
While the Congress has announced its support for the demonstration, the party has also called for “Statehood Plus”, seeking constitutional guarantees for land and employment rights in addition to statehood.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Conference and the Apni Party have announced that they will not participate in the protest. Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone criticised the demonstration, alleging that it sidelines the demand for restoring Article 370 and Article 35A.
The protest is scheduled to be held at Jantar Mantar on July 20, coinciding with the start of Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
