3rd anniversary of Article 370 abrogation: J&K parties slam Centre, seek rollback of move

Mehbooba and her party supporters raised slogans demanding withdrawal of the move, "kale din ka kaala kanoon wapis lo" (withdraw black law imposed on a black day).

Srinagar: The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party on Friday flayed the Centre for "robbing" the people of Jammu and Kashmir of their special status on this day three years ago and demanded a rollback of the move. The former chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, along with her supporters, tried to take out a march from her party headquarters but were stopped by police.

Mehbooba and her party supporters raised slogans demanding withdrawal of the move, "kale din ka kaala kanoon wapis lo" (withdraw black law imposed on a black day). In August 2019, the Centre bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories and abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution which accorded special status to the erstwhile state. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2019, and passed on the same day.

The Lok Sabha cleared it the next day. The PDP chief took to Twitter and said as the BJP's "malicious designs for Jammu and Kashmir have unravelled, the pattern of suppression and fear is now knocking at the door in the rest of the country too. Weaponising their pet agencies & using terror laws to stifle dissent has become the norm".

She said the erstwhile state has "slipped" on the development indices. "Unemployment & inflation is at an all time high. The facade of normalcy is as real as 'sabka saath sabka vikaas'," she added, in a swipe at the BJP's slogan. Apparently referring to political parties from the rest of the country, she said, "Your silence and complicity emboldened GOI to wreck havoc."

"Today they are trampling upon Indian democracy by subverting every pillar that supported it. BJP's so called integration of JK which never happened has cost us heavily," the PDP chief said. National Conference vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah, in a tweet, listed his party's peaceful struggle to reverse "what was done" on August 5, 2019.

"We will continue our peaceful struggle using all legal and constitutional means to challenge what was done to JK on 5th Aug 2019. The road ahead may be a long one, full of twists and turns but his party will not abandon it," he said in a tweet. His party's official Twitter handle put out posters saying "we reject disenfranchisement and disempowerment of people of Jammu and Kashmir" and urged the Supreme Court to constitute a bench to begin hearing in the matter.

CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami tweeted, "On this day in 2019, the Central government upended the constitution and robbed Jammu & Kashmir of what it hard achieved after a hard-fought battle by locking away thousands overnight. We reiterate our cast iron resolve to unitedly work for restoration of what was snatched from us." BJP in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir Tarun Chugh, however, claimed that the erstwhile state has become terrorism-free after the abrogation of the special status. (PTI)