Sahil Gulzar
A meeting of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) was held at the residence of National Conference President Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar on Sunday evening.
The meeting was chaired by Farooq Abdullah and attended by PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, Former chief minister Jammu Kashmir and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah, National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi, Alliance spokesperson Yousuf Tarigami and Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement President Javed Mustafa Mir.
Sources told The Kashmiriyat that at the ending of meeting, PAGD members refrained from speaking to media.
However, Alliance spokesman and CPI(M) general secretary, Yousuf Tarigami said they would issue a written statement on Monday about the purpose of the meeting. Sources said that the meeting discussed the All-party meeting with Prime Minister Modi on June 24.
It is pertinent to mention that After PAGD return from Delhi following the All-party meeting, a senior leader told we didn’t talk about anything that was outside the agenda of the Gupkar Alliance. The leader said that ‘we don’t accept changes of August 5, 2019 and whatever needs to be done to undo that, we will do that constitutionally, politically, legally and peacefully’,” he said.
Politicians in the Valley remain bitterly opposed to Jammu Kashmir’s bifurcation and revocation of Article 370. In the past, PAGD members have clashed with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which backed the scrapping of special status.
Notably, this was the first such meet after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s All-party meeting on Jammu Kashmir in New Delhi on June 24.
PAGD statement
Date: 5th July 2021
The PAGD met on Sunday evening under the chairmanship of Dr Farooq Abdullah at his residence in Srinagar. This meeting attended by vice-chairperson Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, M.Y.Tarigami, Justice(retd) Hasnain Masoodi, Javed Mustafa Mir and Muzaffar Ahmed Shah, was called to discuss the recent meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Delhi on 24th June.
The PAGD reiterated its commitment to fight together to reverse the unconstitutional and unacceptable changes foisted on the people of J&K on 5th August 2019 using all constitutional, legal and political means at its disposal. PAGD’s struggle for undoing these changes will continue as long as it takes while striving to achieve this objective as early as possible.
All the members of the PAGD expressed their disappointed at the outcome of the Delhi meeting eapecially at the absence of any substantial Confidence Building Measures such as releasing political and other prisoners from jails & taking concrete steps to end the siege & atmosphere of suppression that has choked J&K since 2019. This would have initiated the much needed process of reaching out to the people of J&K who are the biggest stakeholders & sufferers of the J&K problem.
As far as restoration of statehood is concerned, it has been BJPs commitment on the floor of the Parliament & they must honour their word. So any assembly election must be held only after restoration of full statehood for J&K. To this end the PAGD has decided to reach out to other political parties in J&K ith a view to take a common position on the issue.
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M Y Tarigami
Spokesperson