Jammu, Mar 06: Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and MLA Kulgam, Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami on Thursday said the Legislative Assembly is the “biggest court” where people have chosen their representatives while calling for raising voices together despite differences in opinions.
“We may have different views, but when it comes to our dignity, our rights and our concerns, we must raise our voices together,” he said while speaking to reporters outside the Legislative Assembly in Jammu.
In the Assembly, the CPI(M) leader delivered a speech in which he put forth the historic background of Jammu and Kashmir as a former state.
He said that J&K is a Dogra state where land and job rights were protected back then. “This is a Dogra state. In 1846, Kashmir was united with Jammu, and Ladakh became part of it when Zorawar Singh sacrificed his life there. Before that, these regions were separate. Now, if you say that you will bring back PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), why did you separate Ladakh from us? Why was the region divided?” he said.
Tarigami added, “You may have heard about it yesterday—the Foreign Affairs Minister spoke about Article 370 and PoK. It was said that Article 370 is dead and finished, yet it still haunts the minds of those in authority. It is repeated again and again—whether during elections, or any other polls. Prominent leaders continue to talk about it. This means that even now, the ghost of it lingers in their minds. It remains in their sight. And I said this in the Assembly.”
The MLA Kulgam said Article 370 was part of the Indian Constitution through the Constituent Assembly, and even its removal required a constitutional procedure that, according to him, was not followed. “What happened was undemocratic and an assault on the rights of the people,” he said.
“Tomorrow, during the budget session, many more issues will be discussed. Today’s session was different, so I could not raise all the concerns due to time constraints. However, these are matters of our people’s lives and livelihoods,” he said.
Highlighting the plight of casual labourers, daily wage workers, those employed under various schemes and contractual employees in colleges and schools, the CPI(M) leader asked, “What are their salaries?”
“These issues will be raised in the coming days,” he added.
