SRINAGAR: Against the backdrop of the Israel-Palestine situation, Kashmir leaders, including former chief ministers of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir, held a meeting on Friday to express their concern over the grim situation in Palestine.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the meeting was called by Member of Parliament and former J&K chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. It was attended by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, NC senior leader and retired Member of Parliament Justice Hasnain Masoodi, and CPI (M) senior leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami.
Tarigami, speaking to KNO, clarified that it wasn’t a formal Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) meeting. Dr Farooq Abdullah hastily organised it to discuss various issues, particularly the grave situation in Palestine and the continuous encirclement and suffering of its people.
“The participants expressed their concern over the catastrophic situation, unprecedented in the sense that it has never happened in that particular region before,” he said.
“There has been violence and atrocities committed in the past as well, but this time it is harsher. The world community must raise its voice. We have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as India has a tradition of supporting Palestinian rights, to raise our voice in support of UNO resolutions and the concerns expressed by the General Secretary, human rights commissions, and the WHO about the violations and war crimes being committed there,” he said, revealing the discussions in the meeting.
“India, as a significant country, must play its role so that there is a ceasefire and an immediate end to the ongoing massacre of the Palestinians,” he said.
The meeting was held in the afternoon at Dr Farooq Abdullah’s Gupkar residence, and no other members of PAGD were invited. (KNO)
