SRINAGAR: Speakers at a conference in New Delhi have urged the restoration of democratic and constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, accusing the Union government of adopting a biased and partisan attitude towards the region.
The conference, organised by the United Peace Alliance in collaboration with the Socialist Party (India) to mark the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, brought together political leaders, activists, academics, and legal experts. The speakers said that the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional provisions in August 2019 was carried out against the wishes of its people and raised “serious legal and constitutional issues” that were overlooked even by the Supreme Court.
Several participants cited objections raised by former judges and legal luminaries over the court’s decision to uphold New Delhi’s move, calling it a unilateral action that undermined the region’s political autonomy.
The conference also highlighted what it described as the ongoing pain and suffering in Kashmir following Operation Sindoor, saying that more than 2,000 people, mostly youth, had been detained arbitrarily. The speakers demanded the immediate resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve “all outstanding issues, including Kashmir”, arguing that the region’s people had borne the brunt of the conflict for 75 years without any sign of a lasting solution.
On the occasion, the Socialist Party (India) released a 60-page fact-finding report compiled after a 16-member Kashmir Solidarity Mission visited the region between May 25 and June 1, shortly after Operation Sindoor. The delegation travelled across Jammu, Srinagar, Rajouri, Manjakot, Surankot, Poonch, Shopian, Pahalgam, Uri, and several other places, gathering testimonies from war victims, civil society members, and socio-political activists.
Those who addressed the gathering included Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, former MP Muhammad Adeeb, former Planning Commission member Syeda Hamid, Awami National Conference vice-president Muzaffar Shah, political analyst OP Shah, academics Shashi Shekhar Singh and Rita Manchanda, Socialist Party general secretary Dr Sandeep Pandey, tribal activist Talib Hussain, and lawyer Dilshad Qadri, among others.
The speakers unanimously called for reversing the “erosion of constitutional safeguards”, releasing political prisoners, and creating a framework for dialogue that would include all stakeholders from Jammu and Kashmir.
