Restore full statehood to strengthen democracy: CP-M tells India
Srinagar: Communist Party of India-Maexist CPI-M) has demanded the immediate restoration of full statehood to occupied Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that it was essential to rebuild public trust, strengthen democratic institutions and fulfil commitments repeatedly made by India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, addressing a press conference in Srinagar, senior CPI-M leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami extended support to the ongoing protest in New Delhi led by the National Conference, in which Left parties, independent legislators and leaders of several political parties from occupied Jammu and Kashmir are participating.
Tarigami said the protest aims to remind the Government of India of its repeated assurances regarding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. He noted that such commitments had been made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on several occasions, including in Parliament and at public meetings.
“We are not asking for the impossible. We are simply demanding that the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir be honoured in both letter and spirit,” he said, adding that the restoration of statehood was “not a favour but a constitutional obligation and a matter of democratic accountability.”
The CPI-M leader said there was no justification for delaying the implementation of these assurances and urged the Centre to restore statehood without further delay.
Referring to the August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 and reorganise the erstwhile state into two Union Territories, Tarigami described the move as “undemocratic and unconstitutional” stating that it violated the assurances given to the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of accession in 1947.
