PAGD leaders to attend PM Modi's all-party meeting

People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration have accepted the invitation by the Prime Minister to attend the all-party meeting on June 24. PAGD chairman Farooq Abdullah said that they will be attending the meeting with an open mind.

Srinagar: People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) chairman Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said that the alliance will attend the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24. He also said that the alliance will go with an open mind to discuss the issue but there will be no compromise on the demand for restoration of statehood. The PAGD chairman said the alliance was confident it would be able to put its stand before the prime minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the meeting.

"Mehbooba Ji, Md Tarigami sahib and I will attend the all-party meeting called by the PM. When the meeting ends, we will brief you here as well as in Delhi on what we did there, what we said and what was their response," the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference president said.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Gupkar alliance, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti said that apart from holding a meeting with them, the Prime Minister should also talk to Pakistan on the resolution.

The PAGD spokesperson MY Tarigami said that they are not living in the world of dreams. "We have the only hope that we will attend the meeting called by the Prime Minister. We live in areal world. We will listen to the PM and say what we have to say," he said.

"We are not demanding stars. We will demand what is ours. We will present the concerns of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he said.

"We will not go to sign their agenda. If their agenda will be in favour of J&K and Ladakh, we will think about accepting it," he said.

Various constituents of the PAGD have approached the Supreme Court with a petition asking for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and its statehood. Fourteen leaders from Jammu and Kashmir have been invited to the meeting to be chaired by the prime minister to discuss the future course of action for the union territory.

The meeting is the first such exercise since the Centre announced the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir''s special status and its bifurcation into union territories in August 2019. The PAGD is a six-party alliance of mainstream parties that came into existence after the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.