Amid rife speculations of cracks in the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), following the verbal spar between two youth leaders of the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), both parties on Tuesday decided to set aside political differences and fight for the people’s “rights and dignity”.
According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), both NC and PDP, through their spokespersons, said that despite their “political differences,” they must “rise to the occasion and present a united front” to fight the “onslaught” on rights and dignity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told KNO that at a time when the case challenging the abrogation of Article 370 is being heard tomorrow in the Supreme Court, there should not be divided voices from Kashmir. He, however, said there will be a “reaction” if anything is being spoken against the party.
“Unfortunately, PDP resorted tactically to speak against the NC. Of course, if you speak against us, there will be a reaction. With the Supreme Court hearing on Article 370 tomorrow, there should not be divided voices from Kashmir. We would like to advise them (PDP) to be careful what they say, else we too have points to speak against them,” Sadiq said.
“One of their spokespersons has said that this is not the party’s view, so we would believe that instead of what happened yesterday, any more accusations or statements against us would be responded to with full authority,” he added.
When asked about the ramifications the recent statement will leave on PAGD, the NC spokesperson said those are in the context of a political party speaking against a political party but speaking against each other at this stage is in very “bad taste”.
He, however, added that it is the chairman of PAGD and its constituents to decide who will stay or opt to quit. “It was understood that all were together how can one speak against each other but that if one resort to such tactics, there will be a response,” he said.
Sadiq said the party’s top leadership will be apprised about the happenings and that they would request the leadership to take up this issue with the PDP leadership.
Meanwhile, PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari told KNO that the reaction may have come in the aftermath of some instances when National Conference leaders at different levels have spoken against the PDP.
“PDP and NC are two different political parties with political differences, but in current circumstances, the political differences have to be kept aside and we must rise to the occasion with a united front to fight the onslaught on our rights and dignity perpetuated by BJP, RSS regime,” he remarked.
Bukhari said their party president Mehbooba Mufti played a pivotal role in initiating the alliance to bring the people on a common platform, and that they have to be united against getting “fragmentized” by the idea of BJP.
“It is in the larger interest of the people here that we stay united and leave our political differences aside to fight the divisive designs of BJP and RSS and to represent the voices and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
The fresh political tussle started after the PDP youth president Waheed Para accused the NC leaders of begging in elections and said the party was responsible for election rigging in 1987, created the Special Operation Group (SOG) and forced youths towards guns. He further alleged that some parties are begging for alliance and elections from New Delhi “only for power”.
Reacting to the accusations, the NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that Para intended to sow confusion among the opposition ranks. “If you feel suffocated within the alliance, simply walk away instead of resorting to fake narratives to justify your actions. While we are aware of your historical blunders, our priority was Unity,” Dar tweeted.
After the abrogation of Article 370, six political parties — the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM), Peoples Movement (PM) and Awami National Conference (ANC) — had come together to form an alliance to seek restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status and “fight for the rights of the people” in the region. However, after the District Development Council polls, Sajad Lone-led Peoples Conference walked out of the alliance.
Meanwhile, PAGD spokesperson M Y Taragami told KNO that he is not in Kashmir and is also not much aware of controversy at a “lower level”. He also refused to comment if the controversy has led to cracks in the Gupkar alliance—(KNO)