Farooq Abdullah Invites 52 Leaders for Jantar Mantar Statehood Protest

Convener News Desk

 SRINAGAR, July 9: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president Dr. Farooq Abdullah has written to 52 national and regional political leaders, Members of Parliament, legislators and prominent public figures, inviting them to join the party’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on the opening day of the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to press for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

 The letter, a copy of which is in possession of Kashmir News Service (KNS), states that Abdullah was writing not only as the president of the National Conference but also as a former member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly who had witnessed the region’s political journey over seven decades.

He said the protest would be a “solemn and democratic” expression against what he described as the “unconscionable delay” in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir despite repeated assurances by the Union Government.

Referring to the developments of August 5, 2019, Abdullah said the erstwhile state was stripped of its special constitutional status under Article 370, bifurcated into two Union Territories and reduced from a full-fledged state despite assurances made on the floor of Parliament that statehood would be restored at an “appropriate time.”

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had responded with patience and faith in democracy, choosing the ballot over the streets by participating peacefully in the 2024 Assembly elections that resulted in an elected government headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Abdullah said despite the restoration of an elected government, statehood continued to remain elusive without any explanation or timeline from the Centre. He described the continued delay as an affront to the democratic mandate of the people and said the issue went beyond Jammu and Kashmir, touching the very foundations of India’s federal structure.

The NC president argued that the Constitution envisages states as expressions of the democratic will of the people rather than mere administrative units of the Union. He said keeping Jammu and Kashmir deprived of statehood indefinitely after terming the arrangement temporary amounted to compromising the constitutional framework and federal polity.

Calling upon leaders across party lines, Abdullah said ideological differences should not come in the way of defending constitutional principles and federalism. He said the proposed protest would remain peaceful, democratic and constitutional and would seek only what had already been promised by the Union Government.

Pegging the appeal to the concluding portion of his letter, Abdullah wrote: “The people of Jammu & Kashmir have chosen hope—we have chosen the ballot, the Constitution, and the democratic process that all of us in some way or another have been a part of. We deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect. I count upon your solidarity. I count upon the democratic conscience that brought each one of us into the sphere of public life and to the service of our people and this great nation. Together, let us send an unambiguous message that the people of Jammu and Kashmir remain the guardians of the voice of those who have been made to wait too long.”

The letter concluded with the words: “With fraternal regards and in the service of our Republic.”

Among those invited are Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, DMK president M.K. Stalin, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president C. Joseph Vijay, CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, CPI general secretary D. Raja, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi president Thol. Thirumavalavan, Indian Union Muslim League national president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, Revolutionary Socialist Party general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya, All India Forward Bloc general secretary G. Devarajan, Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K. Mani, Kerala Congress chairman P.J. Joseph, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party president Hanuman Beniwal, Bharat Adivasi Party president Rajkumar Roat, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, Zoram People’s Movement president Pu Lalliansawta, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik, YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrashekar Rao, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Zoram People’s Movement leader Lalduhoma, Voice of the People Party president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, Jannayak Janta Party president Ajay Singh Chautala, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, BJP J&K president Sat Paul Sharma, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference president Sajjad Gani Lone, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) J&K state secretary Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, Awami Ittehad Party founder and chief leader Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Front chairman Hakeem Yasin, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party chairman Harsh Dev Singh, Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir and Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema chairman Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, MLAs Shabir Ahmad Kullay, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Choudhary Mohammad Akram, Dr. Rameshwar Singh and Payare Lal Sharma, besides Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam.

Meanwhile, Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir and chairman of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, confirmed to KNS that he had received Dr. Abdullah’s invitation. “I have received the invitation. We will deliberate on it and take an appropriate decision,” he said.

Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam also told KNS that he had received the invitation and that a decision on joining the Jantar Mantar protest would be taken after convening a meeting to deliberate on the matter. (KNS)