IIOJK Congress leader calls for cross-party efforts on statehood restoration
Says abrogation of Article 370 caused immense suffering to Kashmiris
Jammu: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Congress Legislature Party le
ader Ghulam Ahmad Mir has called for united efforts cutting across party lines for the restoration of statehood to the territory and urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to convene an all-party meeting to build consensus and approach New Delhi on the issue.
According to Kashmir Media Service, participating in the discussion on the Lieutenant Governor’s address in the IIOJK Assembly on Tuesday, Mir emphasized that there was a need to take all political parties on board to persuade the Indian government to restore statehood to the territory.
“Efforts were being made over the last six months to convene an all-party meeting on this issue. We need to build consensus and approach Delhi to ensure restoration of statehood,” Mir said.
Mir criticized the August 5, 2019 decision that abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated occupied Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, calling it a unilateral move that ignored the people and their representatives. “There was immense suffering and hardship. The state was bifurcated and downgraded without consultation with the people or their elected representatives. As a result, people lost their aspirations and expectations,” he said.
He also noted that the so-called democratic processes in IIOJK were revived under various pressures, including the Supreme Court’s direction to hold Assembly elections before September 2024. “Had the Supreme Court not ruled that elections must be held and a government formed, perhaps none of us would be sitting in this House today,” Mir said.
Mir stressed that people across occupied Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of their political affiliations, feel aggrieved as the powers that should have been vested with the elected government and legislators are still lacking.
