Srinagar, Aug 09: Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has expressed satisfaction over the way lawyers are “laying bare the patent illegality and unconstitutionality” of the abrogation of Article 370 in the Supreme Court.
Mufti in a statement issued here said she is relieved that the BJP-RSS dispensation will not be able to “stifle the voices and arguments” against such an “unlawful act” in the Supreme Court.
Mehbooba said she and her party colleagues have been trying their best to give voice to the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir since the day the state was “dismembered” and its special status was “snatched away”. “However, they have had to face the brunt of the brute establishment that has been trying to muzzle the voices of dissent,” she said.
The PDP chief said, “It is being openly described in the Supreme Court how the then governor self-appointed himself as the constituent assembly and his advisors assumed the role of the council of ministers. It is being widely expressed how, in absence of the concurrence from the actual constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, the whole process carried out by the Centre is patently illegal and unconstitutional. These are the things that I and my party have been saying from day one.”
On an emotional note, Mufti said that she has not been to the Supreme Court of India to witness the proceedings because she would find it difficult to bear the arguments in favour of the “illegal abrogation” of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mufti said that she hopes that the Supreme Court will give a “just and fair verdict” in the case and that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will get “justice”. “For me, this issue is not only about the legality and constitutionality but about the faith and aspirations of the people of J&K. It is also a matter that will decide whether the decision of our leadership to disapprove the Two-Nation theory and accede to a secular and democratic India on the promise of safeguarding our identity and special status was right in the first place,” she added.
