A six-party grouping, which included former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir CM and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, the former separatist and politician Sajjad Lone and a few others met today to give a formal structure to the ‘People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration’. The Gupkar alliance seeks restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and also the statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.
In the meeting which was held at Mufti’s residence in Srinagar Saturday, Farooq Abdullah has been declared the president of the Gupkar alliance, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been appointed as the vice-president of this six-party grouping. Former separatist and politician Sajjad Lone has been made spokesperson of the alliance. The alliance also adopted the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Six parties group together to form ‘Gupkar alliance’
The six parties -the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M), Peoples Movement (PM) and Awami National Conference (ANC), had come together earlier this month to form the ‘Gupkar alliance’, vowing to seek the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status and fight for the rights of the people in the restive region.
“We are anti-BJP, we are not anti-national,” Farooq Abdullah said after the meeting of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration on Saturday. “It’s not an anti-national Jamat, our aim is to ensure that the rights of people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are restored”, Abdullah, who was released in March after more than seven months in detention added.
The leaders of the six parties in the Gupkar alliance had held their first meeting on October 15 following the release of Mufti from detention on October 13. This meeting was held at Farooq Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar where the National Conference (NC) chief had said: “We shall struggle for the restoration of what was snatched from Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh. Ours is a constitutional battle, we want the government of India to return to the people of the state the rights they held before August 5, 2019″.
Ever since the BJP government at the centre has gone ahead with its decision to repeal Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir that gave it special status, the oppositions parties have been relentlessly running bitter campaigns against the move.
Mufti refuses to unfurl the Indian flag until the former flag of erstwhile state of JandK is restored
Speaking to the media yesterday, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who was released from detention on 13th October, went to the extent of denouncing the Indian Tricolour, as she declared that she won’t raise the flag until the former flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is restored. “Our relationship with India’s flag is linked to our relationship with Jammu and Kashmir’s flag. It’s not an independent relationship. The national flag is here only because of this (the Jammu and Kashmir) flag and constitution,” Ms Mufti said on Friday.
People of Kashmir prefer to be ruled by China, instead of India: Farooq Abdullah
Earlier, vowing to restore the dignity of Kashmiris, Farooq Abdullah had in an interview to the leftist website ‘The Wire’, declared that the people of Kashmir prefer to be ruled by China, instead of India. Abdullah claimed that the sentiments of the Kashmiris are such that they are waiting for Chinese to enter Kashmir despite their human rights record with Muslims in China.
Claiming that the people of Kashmir have lost faith from the Modi-led government, Abdullah said that the lakhs of Kashmiri will hit the streets in the future against the policies of Modi government once Section 144 is lifted.
Abrogation of Article 370
In the manifesto, BJP had promised to repeal Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir that gave it special status. On 5th August, the BJP-led Union government fulfilled the promise. The state was divided into two Union Territories, Ladakh, and Jammu & Kashmir, under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. The decision came into effect from 31st October 2019.