SRINAGAR: Leaders of various opposition parties convened a meeting in Jammu on Tuesday chaired by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and unanimously decided to hold a peaceful protest against the present dispensation in Jammu next week.
Farooq Abdullah, while addressing the media after a 2-hour-long meeting, expressed concern over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and across the country.
He said that several issues were discussed during the meeting that included the atmosphere created by the BJP-led government across the country. “The constitution is suspended and the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are under attack,” he lamented.
“We have decided to hold a peaceful protest on October 10 to demand the restoration of constitutional rights for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Abdullah questioned New Delhi and LG-led administration over delay in holding elections in Jammu & Kashmir. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir keep chanting that everything is fine here but the big question is that if everything is normal here and despite the delimitation and finalization of voter list, why elections are not being conducted?” he asked.
He further said that government had promised to hold Urban Local Bodies and Panchyat elections but changed its decision overnight to make people more confused.
Meanwhile, the meeting was attended by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, her party’s general secretary Amreek Singh Reen, JKPCC president Vikar Rasool Wani, working president Raman Bhalla, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, Dogra Sadar Sabha chief Gulchain Singh Charak, and Jammu and Kashmir Shiv Sena (UBT) president Manish Sahni.
Awami National Conference senior vice-president Muzaffar Shah, National Conference provincial president for Jammu Rattan Lal Gupta, party MP Hasnain Masoodi, Mission Statehood president Sunil Dimple, and former MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman, also attended the meet.
The meeting also welcomed representatives from various other political parties including the CPI, Akali Dal (Amritsar), and the Internationalist Democratic Party. (KNS)
