Party to protest in Parliament, seek Statehood: Tanvir
Leaders back stronger push for J&K rights
Delhi protest to remain within constitutional framework
Next NC strategy meeting likely in Jammu
Abid Bashir
Srinagar, June 3: In significant development that stretched over nearly ten hours, National Conference Thursday said that the party leaders including its Members of Parliament (MPs) will protest in Delhi on the first day of Monsoon session of the Parliament to press for the restoration of “constitutional guarantees and Statehood.”
This was decided in a ten-hour long marathon off-site meeting of National Conference legislators, MPs and five Independent MLAs at Dachigam National Park on the outskirts of Srinagar, where a unanimous consensus was evolved to intensify the demand for constitutional guarantees and restoration of statehood for J&K. The meeting was chaired by NC vice president and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The meeting, originally scheduled to be held at Omar’s Gupkar residence, was shifted to Dachigam National Park to facilitate what party insiders described as “fruitful discussions without mobile phone intervention.” Senior NC leader and Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, MP Mian Muhammad Altaf and Shopian MLA Shabir Ahmad Kullay did not attend the crucial deliberations.
Speaking to reporters outside Dachigam after the meeting, National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said that issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir and its people were discussed “threadbare” and that Chief Minister Omar gave a patient hearing to every member who spoke during the lengthy session.
“A unanimous consensus was evolved in the meeting that the time has come to demand constitutional guarantees and statehood from New Delhi. For that, we will be protesting on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament at Jantar Mantar or any other place of our choice,” Sadiq said while flanked by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, cabinet ministers Sakeena Itoo and Javaid Dar, besides advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani.
Sadiq, who represents Zadibal Assembly constituency, asserted that restoration of statehood was “our right” and said the party believes “the time has come to seek back whatever has been snatched from us.”
Besides the larger political agenda, the meeting also discussed the growing liquor and drug menace in Jammu and Kashmir, with the party formulating a strategy to address both issues.
“Development-related matters were also discussed and decisions taken accordingly,” Sadiq said. “We also discussed liquor issue and drug menace besides development related issues of Chenab Valley, Jammu region and Kashmir districts.”
Senior NC leader and Minister for Forest and Ecology Javaid Rana termed the proposed Delhi march the “biggest decision” emerging from the Dachigam deliberations.
“NC will go for a Delhi march on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament. We will seek return of special status as well as statehood,” Rana told reporters. One of the MLAs who attended the meeting told Rising Kashmir that discussions focused extensively on the political future of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the party’s organisational and governance roadmap.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered in the past and have seen the worst,” the legislator said, wishing not to be named. According to the MLA, the National Conference discussed both short-term and long-term political agendas during the off-site session.
“It was decided that the party will first fight to achieve its short-term agenda, which includes staging a democratic protest in New Delhi on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament. We will protest within the ambit of the Indian Constitution and press for constitutional guarantees and statehood,” he said.
The legislator further disclosed that Rajya Sabha MP Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan’s recent meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah also came up for discussion during the strategy session.
Apart from political issues, Omar Abdullah also reportedly listened seriously to constituency-specific grievances raised by legislators and reviewed differences between some MLAs and ministers.
Sources in the NC said the Chief Minister assured participants that he would personally visit every Assembly constituency in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming months.
It was also decided that the next such off-site meeting would be held in Jammu, while similar review and strategy sessions would continue in both Srinagar and Jammu every six months.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had confirmed through a post on X that the legislative off-site meeting at Dachigam was pre-planned.
“We are off for an off-site to spend the day taking stock of the last 19 months — the good, the not so good & everything in between,” Omar wrote on X before the meeting began.
The day-long Dachigam huddle is being viewed as one of the most politically significant exercises undertaken by the National Conference-led government since assuming office, with the party now preparing to carry its statehood and constitutional rights campaign directly to the national capital.