Srinagar, Jul 09 (KNO): National Conference President Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Thursday wrote to 52 national and regional leaders, inviting them to join a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, to demand the restoration of statehood to J&K.
The invitation letters have been sent to top leaders of the INDIA bloc, non-aligned parties, as well as J&K-based regional parties.
In the letter, a copy of which is in possession of news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the NC president described the protest as a "solemn and democratic" demonstration against the "unconscionable delay" in restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir.
Referring to August 5, 2019, when the Union Government abrogated Article 370 and downgraded J&K into two Union Territories, the NC president said the Centre had assured Parliament that statehood would be restored "at an appropriate time."
"The people of Jammu & Kashmir have remained dignified and patient... We did not take to the streets. We went, instead, to the ballot box," he wrote, adding that elections were held peacefully in 2024 and an elected government under CM Omar Abdullah is now functioning.
In the letter, he wrote that statehood remains withheld and elusive, and that no explanation is forthcoming and no timeline is being offered.
"And yet, Statehood-that most basic constitutional right, that most elementary unit of self-governance in a federal democracy -remains withheld and elusive to us. There is no explanation forthcoming. There is no timeline offered. There is only silence. This is not merely a delay. It is an affront to the democratic will of an entire people,” Farooq wrote.
The invitation letters have been sent to all leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Sonia Gandhi, chairperson, Congress parliamentary party; Mallikarjun Kharge, president, Indian National Congress; Rahul Gandhi, leader of opposition, Lok Sabha; M.K. Stalin, president, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam; Mamata Banerjee, chairperson, All India Trinamool Congress; Akhilesh Yadav, president, Samajwadi Party; Lalu Prasad Yadav, national president, Rashtriya Janata Dal; Sharad Pawar, national president, Nationalist Congress Party; Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT); and Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor, Aam Aadmi Party.
Other non-aligned national leaders invited include Asaduddin Owaisi, President, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen; Sukhbir Singh Badal, President, Shiromani Akali Dal; Naveen Patnaik, President, Biju Janata Dal; and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, President, YSR Congress Party.
All major political parties and political figures from J&K have been invited to the meeting. Surprisingly, the BJP state president has also been invited to the meeting.
The leaders invited from J&K include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chairman, Democratic Progressive Azad Party; Mehbooba Mufti, President, Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party; Sat Paul Sharma, State President, Bharatiya Janata Party; Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, President, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party; Sajjad Gani Lone, President, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference; Tariq Hameed Karra, President, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee; Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, State Secretary, CPI(M), Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Chairman PDF and Abdul Rashid Sheikh, founder and chief leader, Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party.
The invitation letters have also been sent to Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, chairman, MMU; and Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, Grand Mufti of J&K—(KNO)