PAGD disappointed over outcome of Delhi meeting

SRINAGAR — The leaders of various political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, also part of Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), have expressed their dissatisfaction over the outcome of the Delhi summit with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The PAGD on Sunday evening held a meeting under the chairmanship of Dr Farooq Abdullah at his residence in Srinagar. The meeting was attended by various leaders including the vice-chairperson Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, M.Y. Tarigami, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi, Javed Mustafa Mir and Muzaffar Ahmed Shah.

As per the amalgam’s spokesman, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, the meeting was called to discuss the recent meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Delhi on June 24.

“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,” he said in a press note, adding that PAGD’s struggle for undoing these changes will continue as long as it takes while striving to achieve the objective as early as possible.

“All the members of the PAGD expressed their disappointed at the outcome of the Delhi meeting, especially 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,” the spokesman said.

The confidence building measures 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’, according to the PAGD statement.

The PAGD also reiterated its demand for restoration of statehood before the conduct of Assembly election in the erstwhile state.

“As far as restoration of statehood is concerned, it has been BJP’s 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 with a view to take a common position on the issue,” the statement added.