SRINAGAR — Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday urged all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to stand up for the rights of the people and press for the restoration of Article 370 and other constitutional guarantees.
Reacting to the ongoing political discourse over the rights and commitments made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Mirwaiz said the responsibility should not rest with any one leader or party but with all political forces in the region.
“Not only Agha Ruhullah, but all the parties of Jammu and Kashmir should stand up for the rights of the people,” Mirwaiz said.
He said political parties should honour the commitments made to the people through their manifestos and election plans. “If they are not able to stand up for these constitutional guarantees, the commitments they have made to the people, their manifesto, their election plan, then they should at least stand up for the promises they have made,” he said.
The Mirwaiz said the priorities of the National Conference government should have been to fulfil the promises made to the people. “The promises they have made to the people, they should stand up for them,” he said.
Referring to issues such as electricity and roads, Mirwaiz said these were important but secondary compared to what he described as the larger question concerning the political and constitutional rights of Jammu and Kashmir. “I think these are all secondary problems. The real problem is that the existence of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is in danger,” he said.
Mirwaiz called upon all political parties to not only raise their voice for restoration of statehood but also seek the return of Article 370. “Right now, all the political parties of Jammu and Kashmir should not only try to raise their voices for the state, but they should also bring back Article 370,” he said.
He alleged that the constitutional guarantees and commitments made to the people over the decades had been taken away. “All the promises they made to us, and the promises they made from 1947 to today, the constitutional guarantees, they have abolished them,” he said.
Mirwaiz said political parties that operate within the mainstream have a “moral responsibility” to raise their voice on issues concerning the rights of the people. He said people had voted with the expectation that elected representatives would speak for them and respect their mandate.
“The priority that people voted for was based on the fact that they would stand up for the people. They would be the voice of the people, and they would respect the mandate that the people gave them,” he said.
However, Mirwaiz expressed disappointment that, according to him, political parties had not been able to effectively raise their voice over the rights of the people. “Unfortunately, we are seeing that they are not able to stand up; they are not able to raise their voices,” he said.
He further alleged that the political leadership had failed to build public trust over the loss of constitutional rights.
“The rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been taken away, and Jammu and Kashmir has been destroyed,” he said.
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