SRINAGAR: People's Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Sunday said the issue of Article 370 -- revoked by the Centre in August 2019 -- was "sacrosanct" and the demand for its restoration will never die.
He said the party will fight for whatever has been snatched from the people of Jammu and Kashmir "unconstitutionally".
"The issue of Article 370 is sacrosanct and its demand will never die. It is not subservient to our raising of the issue. The chapter of Article 370, contrary to what Delhi thinks, is not closed," Lone said addressing a gathering of party workers in the Shangus assembly segment in south Kashmir.
It was the party's first public outreach programme in recent times.
He said the People's Conference (PC) will speak "truthfully" to the people about the status of Article 370 and its stand on it is "clear".
He asked the National Conference leadership to explain its "u-turn" on the participation in the delimitation exercise.
"If participating in the meeting was an endorsement of abrogation of Article 370 in May, then how is it not an endorsement in December. If something was wrong in May, how could it be right in December? Were they lying then or are they lying now," he asked.
Lone was referring to the decision of the NC over its participation in the meeting of the associate members of the commission which is scheduled to take place on Monday.
The PC president asked whether it again was a part of an "act scripted and directed in Delhi".
"The NC must come out clean and explain the reasons for change of heart. What has changed in Kashmir for them to now deem this exercise legitimate? We can't afford duplicity after what happened on August 5," he said.
Accusing the traditional mainstream parties of being "hand in glove" with Delhi, Lone said in lieu of political space, these parties have "irreversibly damaged" the cause of the people of Kashmir.
"People of Kashmir need to understand the concept of political space. Either the traditional parties are actually feeling the pain of the people and advocating for their rights or they are a part of a grand theatre. The theatre is scripted, directed and produced by Delhi and they are mere actors enacting their respective roles. They at times have to shout, at times have to cry, at times have to act the martyr," he said.
Lone alleged that it was a "mutually beneficial deal" between Delhi and the two families -- apparently referring to Abdullah's and Mufti's.
"In their private meetings, they tell Delhi to do whatever you want to do in Kashmir, kill whoever you want to kill, beat and arrest whoever you want to but give us the freedom to cry, to mourn. They are professional mourners. We believe mourning is a part of the act for them. Unlike us, they are allowed the luxury to mourn and cry on the pretext of granting them political space," he further alleged.
The PC president said if Delhi has been consistent on anything, it has been its "consistency for disdain and condemn for the people of Kashmir".
"We have not seen any let up in the last so many decades in their attitude. Erosions started the moment Article 370 was enacted in the 1950s and ended with its abrogation in 2019."
"Not a single year or a single month has passed since 1989 when the people of Kashmir have not been mercilessly killed or jailed. The people of Kashmir have been the victims of Delhi's excesses for decades now irrespective of which party was in power. Let our memories not fail us," he said.
Lashing out at the administration for "choking and stifling" the voices of the people and creating a "pressure-cooker like situation" in Kashmir, Lone said those at the helm are "spreading poison for our future generations".