Speaking to the media inside the Parliament premises on Tuesday, NC president Farooq Abdullah reiterated his demand for the restoration of Article 370. Contesting the notion that there is normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, he opined that the reinstatement of the region’s special status was absolutely essential. The former J&K CM was among the mainstream leaders who was kept under house arrest while the Centre moved to abrogate Article 370.
Ex-J&K CM Farooq Abdullah remarked, “They have to reinstate Article 370 if normalcy has to be restored in Kashmir. You come here and see what kind of normalcy is there. There is no normalcy.”
A day earlier, his son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah contested Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s observation that it is “futile” to talk about Article 370 as it won’t be restored. He lamented that the Sonia Gandhi-led party had conceded “defeat” at the outset. He stressed, “The future of our children, their education, their jobs, our lands (is linked to this). When it comes to land to the tiller, we gave the land ownership right to the people without taking one paisa from them. That wouldn’t have been possible if Article 370 was not there. But these people are not ready to fight this battle. There is no problem, don’t fight. We will fight alone”.
A Presidential notification combined with requisite legislation passed by both the House of Parliament in August 2019 led to Article 370 becoming virtually redundant. This implied that the special status of J&K was scrapped. Furthermore, the region was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Thereafter, restrictions on the movement of people and communication were imposed in the state, which was gradually lifted over the months.
After leaders such as former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were released post months of detention, 6 political parties joined hands to form the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration in August 2020. The principle aim of this alliance is to strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and statehood. Subsequently, PAGD emerged as the single-largest party in the first-ever District Development Council polls in J&K by bagging 110 seats. Chairing an all-party meeting on June 24, PM Modi promised that J&K will get an elected government after the delimitation process is over.