SRINAGAR, JULY 18: Peoples Democratic Party President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday declined an invitation from National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah to participate in the proposed July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Mufti said the PDP, after consultations with senior party leaders, had decided not to join the protest because it was focused exclusively on the restoration of statehood. She argued that any political movement restricted to that single demand risked pushing the issue of Article 370 into the background and, in her view, could end up legitimising the constitutional changes made on August 5, 2019.
In a letter addressed to Dr Farooq Abdullah, the PDP chief thanked him for extending the invitation but maintained that the political and constitutional concerns of Jammu and Kashmir went beyond the question of statehood.
Mufti alleged that limiting the struggle to restoration of statehood alone could reinforce the BJP’s political position by allowing the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories to gradually fade from the centre of public debate.
She said the people of Jammu and Kashmir continued to feel the political and psychological impact of the developments of August 5, 2019, when the special constitutional status of the erstwhile state was withdrawn and it was reorganised into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The former Chief Minister also referred to the 2024 Assembly elections, saying both the PDP and the National Conference had spoken in their respective manifestos about restoration of Article 370. She argued that the strong electoral mandate received by the National Conference reflected, among other factors, public expectations regarding those commitments.
Mufti accused the National Conference of gradually narrowing what she described as Jammu and Kashmir’s broader political struggle to the single issue of statehood. She maintained that such an approach could normalise the post-August 2019 constitutional arrangement rather than challenge it.
The PDP president also criticised the Omar Abdullah-led government on a range of issues, alleging that it had not responded strongly enough to decisions concerning dismissal of government employees, action against Jamaat-e-Islami and institutions linked to it, detentions, restrictions on certain literature and environmental concerns.
Drawing a comparison with the political unity demonstrated by leaders in Ladakh over demands for constitutional safeguards, Mufti said regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir should also attempt to evolve a common position on larger constitutional and political questions.
She recalled that she had earlier written to Dr Farooq Abdullah proposing a united initiative among regional parties but claimed that her communication had not received even a formal acknowledgement.
Mufti urged both Dr Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to convene an all-party meeting involving regional political parties and representatives of civil society. Such a meeting, she said, could help formulate a common roadmap on issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir’s political and constitutional future.
She also called for the release of political prisoners and removal of restrictions on socio-political organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, maintaining that these issues should form part of any broader political engagement.
Concluding her letter, Mufti cautioned against reducing the political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to restoration of statehood alone. She argued that doing so would amount to overlooking wider constitutional concerns and urged regional parties to unite around the demand for restoration of Article 370.
Despite declining to participate in the July 20 protest, the PDP chief extended her best wishes to the National Conference for the success of its proposed demonstration at Jantar Mantar.