Demand unconditional release of leaders; ask party cadre to resume activities
Owais Gul
Srinagar, Dec 23 : Post abrogation of Article 370, the two regional mainstream political parties including National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held first meeting wherein the party cadre was asked to resume their activities.
According to the wire service— the meeting took place at a time when the leadership of both the parties are under detention since August 5.
The leaders were put under detention and party activities cam to halt since August 5, when the central government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (Article 370) and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.
Sources said that the two political parties held meeting at their respective party headquarters here wherein the leaders who attended the meet were asked to resume their activities at Block, district and zone levels.
Showkat Mir, Provincial Secretary NC said that they were convening provincial meetings every month, but these meetings came to a grinding halt after the leadership including the provincial president of NC Nasir Aslam Wani was detained. ‘
“Now, we decided to hold a meet after five months to discuss the party affairs,” Mir said, adding that over 100 leaders participated in the meeting today.
The party termed the continuous detention of its president and incumbent parliamentarian—Dr. Farooq Abdullah as unconstitutional, demanding unconditional release of all the detained leaders, so that they can decide the party affairs.
He said that there is fear psychosis among the people as the hundreds of people including the leadership has been put under detention, adding that it will end only after the leadership will be released.
Asked about any demographic change after Article 370, he said that itis obvious after the abrogation of Article 370 and now the NRC and CAA has taken place, which are co-related. He added that particularly one community is being targeted through such kind of things. “It will have impact on J&K,” he added.
Meanwhile, PDP State Secretary Abdul Rahim Kosheen said that after the continuous detention of leadership, the second-rung leaders decided to hold meeting after five months. “The party leadership is entitled to take any decision and stand on Article 370, but as they are continuously under detention, we applied for a meeting with Mehbooba Mufti, but unfortunately, the permission was not granted,” he said.
Kosheen further stated that they will now meet the divisional administration here and will seek a permission to meet party president. “Our stand will only come out when the party high command will be released,” he said.
He added that the claims about the development following abrogation of Article 370 has fallen flat as no major development has taken place since then. “The people have been suffering due to pesky power cuts and other things. We will meet the party president and inform her about these developments,” he added. (KNO)
