J&K's Gupkar alliance to attend Centre's all-party meeting, pitch for Article 370 restoration

SRINAGAR: The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration on Tuesday decided to attend the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 24. The leaders of the six-party alliance will pitch for restoration of J&K’s special status and release of prisoners.

“We will be attending the meeting in New Delhi on June 24. All the Gupkar alliance leaders who have been invited for the Delhi meet will attend,” the Gupkar alliance chairman and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah told reporters after a meeting of leaders of the alliance at his residence today.

Four Gupkar Alliance leaders including Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami are among 14 J&K political leaders invited for the June 24 meeting to be chaired by PM Modi.

With the Centre not specifying any agenda for the meeting, Abdullah said they can talk on any and every issue. “Our stand is known to everybody,” he said.

The Gupkar alliance spokesman and CPIM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said they want to assure people of J&K and Ladakh that they will be pleading their case before the PM. “We will plead the case of the people of J&K and Ladakh. Whatever guarantees we have under the Indian constitution, we will appeal to the PM for protection and safeguarding of those guarantees. We will appeal to him to reconsider the August 5, 2019 decisions.”

The Gupkar alliance, which has vowed to fight for Article 370 restoration, was formed by seven parties in October last year. However, one of the parties, Peoples Conference, quit the alliance in January this year after the DDC election results.

The PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti said they are not against the dialogue. “We hoped that the Centre would take some confidence building measures. After the outbreak of COVID-19, prisoners were released outside J&K and the same should have been done in J&K,” she said.

“If they really want to reach out to people and us (mainstream leaders), whom they have been humiliating for the last two years, at least they should have released the political prisoners,” she said and demanded release of all political prisoners of J&K. “And those who cannot be released should be brought back to J&K,” she added.

Another Gupkar Alliance leader and Awami National Conference vice president Muzaffar Shah said there would be no compromise on Article 370 and 35A.