SRINAGAR: Drawing inspiration from the success of Leh and Kargil in securing constitutional safeguards under Article 371 for Ladakh UT through dialogue with the Centre, PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has called for a joint and coordinated outreach from political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
In an outreach statement, the PDP chief has written letters to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma, JKPCC President Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, People’s Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone, MP Engineer Rashid, J&K AAP President Mehraj Malik, PDF Chairman Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, J&K National Panthers Party President Harsh Dev Singh, Shiv Sena (J&K unit) President Manish Sahni, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti President Sanjay Tickoo, and Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee Chairman Jaspal Singh.
“J&K stands at a crossroad where we cannot let despair shape our future,” Mehbooba said and proposed a united political initiative, urging leaders to set aside differences and jointly advocate for resumption of meaningful dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir.
She emphasised that a collective voice is essential to represent the aspirations, grievances, and concerns of the people of the region at the national level.
“It necessitates a broad consensus above and across party and partisan lines to pull J&K out of the current debilitating stalemate. If we want to restore the dignity & security of our people, a constructive dialogue with the Government of India is a much needed imperative. The time has come to make a united outreach to the Prime Minister and Home Minister and prevail upon them to initiate a sustained dialogue with the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” she stated in the letter.
Mehbooba pointed to recent breakthrough achieved by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, saying the developments in Ladakh demonstrate that dialogue remains the most effective way of achieving meaningful outcomes.
“This will set the ball rolling for us to formally reach out to the Central Government. Given the fact that disagreements & squabbling between regional parties have been detrimental to the collective interests of J&K a reasonable consensus especially post 2019 is the only solution.”
Mehbooba urged Omar Abdullah, as the elected head of the government, to bring all parties together through an official meeting.
“However your support is a prerequisite for the success of this political platform. Genuine unity in these difficult unprecedented times can lead us towards restoring our rights and dignity of our people guaranteed by the Indian Constitution,” she wrote to CM.
In separate letters to LoP Sunil Sharma and J&K Congress chief Tariq Karra, Mehbooba stated, “We must set aside our differences, disagreements, and competing political narratives in the larger interest of those we represent. This cannot become an exercise in claiming political credit or scoring partisan points. Rather, it must be a moment of collective responsibility and unity for the welfare and future of our people.”
“I urge you to rise above our differences and join this effort. At this critical moment, unity is our greatest strength. Together, we can work towards a peaceful, dignified, and prosperous Jammu & Kashmir one where the rights, aspirations, and identity of its people are protected and safeguarded within the framework of the Constitution of India,” she wrote.
It remains to be seen what would be the reaction of the political leaders to Mehbooba’s unity efforts.
In the past, Mehbooba’s PDP had joined hands with Abdullah's NC and some other parties and floated the Gupkar Alliance for restoration of Article 370. However, the alliance gradually lost momentum amid internal differences and initially broke during DDC polls in J&K in November-December 2020 and finally broke and collapsed ahead of Assembly polls in J&K in 2024.
The Gupkar alliance had failed to come up with any roadmap and was confined to meetings and statements instead of taking concrete steps to reach out the Central government with their grievances.
After the failure of Gupkar Alliance experiment, Mehbooba’s latest reach out represents a fresh attempt to forge consensus among Jammu and Kashmir’s diverse political voices.