- Friday, May 03, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE all-party meeting that prime minister Narendra Modi convened on Thursday (24) with political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi concluded after over three hours and the invited leaders later told the media that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre expressed commitment to the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister of Jammu Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad said Union home minister Amit Shah assured that the central government is committed to granting statehood to the province. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Azad said five demands – granting of statehood, conducting assembly elections to restore democracy, rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, release of all political detainees and that on domicile rules – were forwarded during the talks with Modi.
Shah later said on Twitter that the government is committed to all-round development of Jammu and Kashmir. “The future of Jammu and Kashmir was discussed and the delimitation exercise and peaceful elections are important milestones in restoring statehood as promised in parliament,” he said.
Shah also said in another tweet that the meeting on Jammu and Kashmir was held in a very cordial environment. He added that everyone expressed their commitment to democracy and constitution and that strengthening of the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir was stressed upon.
Modi also tweeted about the event saying the meeting with political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir is an important step in the ongoing efforts towards a developed and progressive Jammu and Kashmir, where all-round growth is furthered.
‘Modi assured he will everything to make Kashmir peaceful’
People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig said Modi assured that he will do everything to make Jammu and Kashmir a zone of peace. Responding to the demand for statehood, the prime minister said the delimitation process should conclude before the other issues are taken up, Baig added. He called the meeting satisfactory and that there was complete unanimity in restoring peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that they told prime minister Modi that they did not support what was done on August 5, 2019. He said they were not ready to accept it but at the same time, they would not take laws into their hands. He said they will fight it in the court. Abdullah also said that they told Modi that there has been a breach of trust between the Centre and the state and it was the duty of the former to restore it, ANI reported.
A number of leaders in Kashmir, including Abdullah, were detained following revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
‘People of Jammu and Kashmir are in pain since August 2019’
Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti said on the all-party meeting with Modi that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are in pain since August 2019. They are angry and humiliated and do not accept the “unconstitutional abrogation” of Article 370, she said. The article gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status.
The meeting at the prime minister’s residence was attended by a number of political heavyweights from what is now a Union Territory. The attendees included Abdullah and his father Farooq, Mufti, among others. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Congress leaders like Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Tara Chand were also present.
The meeting was the first such exercise that was held between the Centre and Kashmir’s mainstream political leaders since the revocation of its statehood in August 2019. The local leaders have been demanding restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
