The Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) on Tuesday adopted a resolution to restore the constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh under Article 370 and 35A.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of PAGD leaders here today, PAGD spokesperson Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami said, "Silence in Jammu Kashmir is depicted as normalcy. We appeal people of India that we want our rights. Today we gathered to sent out a message throughout the country, we are committed to seek our constitutional rights. We demand article 370, 35A and statehood must if restored fully. This is our constitutional right. We have adopted a resolution to restore the constitutional position of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh under Article 370 and 35A."
He further stated that government orders for stone pelters and others in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir are 'harsh'. "You cannot deprive people of their rights until proven guilty in the court of law," he added.
The PAGD Spokesperson further said, "Today we (PAGD leaders) met after a long time. The government is trying to hamper our efforts but we managed to meet. The agenda of the meeting was the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. We formed the PAGD after August 5, after the abrogation of Article 370 and we are fighting for it."
"Due to the Domicile law, investment and developments are getting affected in the union territory. The people of Jammu are facing problems in business and jobs as they are not getting jobs as per the new laws which do not allow giving jobs to stone pelters. Also, we demand to release of political prisoners. The government harrases people through Crime Information Bureau (CIB), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other agencies. We condemn these things," said Tarigami
The constituents of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) as well as their party leaders met at Jammu and Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah's residence in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Notably, the leaders from constituent parties have for the first time attended the meeting of PAGD since its formation two years back.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI-M Central Committee Member M Y Tarigami, Senior Vice-President of Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference (JKANC) Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, and other leaders from constituent parties reached Abdullah's residence to attend the meeting.
Earlier, members of PAGD had attended the meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, whose party is a member of PAGD, had said that that political parties of the region had conveyed to Prime Minister that if assembly polls are to be held, then statehood should be restored first to Jammu and Kashmir.
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti had said that she had told the Prime Minister that the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not accept the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated. She alleged that it was abrogated "unconstitutionally, illegally and immorally".
The meeting was the first high-level interaction between the Centre and political leadership mainly from Kashmir since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.
( With inputs from ANI )
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