Srinagar: The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir seeking the restoration of Article 370 abrogated in 2019, will jointly contest the Assembly elections, former chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Monday. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event in Srinagar, Farooq said, “Yes, we will contest together, we won't fight alone (on an individual party basis),” while replying to a question about the strategy of the PAGD for the polls.
Farooq said that those who left the PAGD “were never part of it as they had joined the alliance with the intention of breaking the alliance”. He said that the environment was conducive for the elections and appealed to the people to be patient. “A time will come when Allah Almighty will help the people to get out of the current situation. We want peace. We want to move forward with peace. We want animosity to end. Only through love will the country develop and diversity needs to be protected," he added.
Talking about the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, Farooq said that Kashmiris have always helped and supported the peaceful conduct of the Yatra. “It was a local Muslim from Anantnag, who discovered the Lingam and reported it to the Pandits. Muslims have never raised a finger against the religion of others,” he said. Over the prevailing communal tensions in the country, the former CM said, “If this country wants to develop, diversity has to be protected. This is a culturally and linguistically diverse country”.
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