Srinagar, September 5: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) today reiterated its commitment to struggle for the resolution of the external and internal dimensions of the the issue of J&K & extended un-conditional support to political organisations who are ready to join the fight for the restoration of rights and dignity of the people of J&K.

The Political Affairs committee (PAC) of the party met here today under the chairmanship of the party president Mehbooba Mufti to deliberate upon the current political situation and measures to strengthen the party at the grass roots level.

“The party calls for a united fight to restore the dignity and constitutional rights of the state that are enshrined in the Constitution of India. The party will extend unqualified support to other political parties in this joint fight and will look forward and welcome support of others. This is a call of history that we all can ignore only to our peril and annihilation of our distinct identity, culture and civilisational uniqueness” a resolution passed in the PAC reads.

The meeting discussed in detail the prevailing political situation and expressed serious concern on the continuous coercion aimed at muzzling the legitimate voice of the people after illegal abrogation of special status of the state. It was decided that the PDP will launch a public outreach programme to strengthen the party at the constituency level.

The detailed text of the PAC resolution is as follows:

PAC Resolution on 5th September 2022

We Reiterate our commitment to the basic Charter of PDP to struggle for the resolution of the external and internal dimensions of the problem of J&K. We implore the GOI to restart dialogue both with people of J&K and Pakistan to put an end to the bloodshed here. For this the party will under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti strive through all constitutional, democratic and non violent means.

Party unequivocally calls for restitution of the democratic rights of the state of J&K. The unconstitutional scrapping of the state, its status and constitution needs to be reversed. All unconstitutional actions taken on August 5, 2019 and since, rolling out of measures to disenfranchise, disempower and humiliate the people of the state are unacceptable to the party.

The party calls for a united fight to restore the dignity and constitutional rights of the state that are enshrined in the Constitution of India. The party will extend unqualified support to other political parties in this joint fight and will look forward and welcome support of others. This is a call of history that we all can ignore only to our peril and annihilation of our distinct identity, culture and civilisational uniqueness.

The party has observed with deep concern and anguish the targeted attacks on unarmed civilians, especially our Pandit community. The stark failure of the government in ensuring their safety in homes, offices and private establishments is a painful reminder of the arrogance of rulers, their inefficiency and exposes their false, media driven claims of normalcy. It’s heartbreaking to see the efforts of all stakeholders made over many decades especially post 2002 to rehabilitate the Pandit community with dignity in the rightful homes receiving serious setback. PDP renews its commitment to the priority of bringing back the uprooted families with dignity, honour and economic empowerment.

The PDP has always cautioned against the evil designs of BJP to force a demographic change in the state. This sinister plan hits at the very foundation of our forefathers’ dreams and decision to align with a secular, inclusive India. It’s ironical that the only state in South Asia that defied the communal logic of partition is now facing an onslaught of numbers. The recent decision to include 25 lac additional voters is fraught with not only the ominous signs of fraud but incalculable fallout. As a responsible party that has been part of governance we caution the government of the dangers it could pose and urge it to halt the plan.

The expanding tentacles of militancy in Jammu region should serve as an alarm for our nation about the mismanagement of its most sensitive region by the BJP government. Jammu region unfortunately is also experiencing the first thrust of BJP’s onslaught on the people of the state. The trading, major and minor contracts, government and private jobs, mineral resources and even the agency to sell liquor are all becoming inaccessible to them.

The government has failed to create new jobs resulting in all times high rate of unemployment. The government jobs are on sale. No recruitment has happened transparently on merit in the last 4 years , the proof being the hasty scrapping of recruitment lists of JKSI , FAA and now JE Jal Shakti due to large scale corruption charges . While all this is happening to the youth their families are being evicted from lands their forefathers have been tilling for generations. Those who are having jobs for decades and built small worlds of their own by joining the mainstream are dismissed and pushed to the darkness that they fought to come out from. And now along with their families and dependants find themselves abandoned by thee state.

Unaccounted killings, arrests and alleged fake encounters have become a routine which are not even reported by the press anymore. The clampdown on media, peaceful protests and civil liberties has encouraged the authorities to treat the citizens as enemies in their own country. Voices of even a symbolic dissent are crushed ruthlessly.

The least that the government could do was to move the detainees and prisoners from the state from other states. Most of them are held without any charges or on flimsy grounds. They come from poor families and can’t even see their families who find it beyond their resources to visit them.

This meeting calls upon the Government of India to reassess its policy in J&K which is making an already complex issue more complicated and into a humanitarian crisis. On a dispassionate introspection it may rediscover the merit of a policy introduced 2decades back by Prime Minister Vajpayee in close Coordination with our founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and carried forward by his astute successor Dr Manmohan Singh. We call upon the union government to restart the peace process that had yielded tangible results in reducing the pain of the people and tensions in the region without any compromise on the sovereignty of either our country India or Pakistan. Today when the demons of hate are consuming our society and countries, we urge the Prime Minister to assume india’s rightful leadership role of the South Asia and make a beginning from Kashmir by making it a bridge of understanding and reconciliation, friendship and cooperation. For that however, to happen it is inevitable to restore the constitutional rights of our people as a first step, loosen the tight grip over lives of people and realise the futility of electoral disruption in achieving a lasting solution.

The unfortunate decision to suspend trade and travel across LOC has served neither the national interest nor helped local communities who had started looking beyond the scars of partition and rebuilding lives. Since the protocol established for this important CBM is still in place we urge GOI to take steps for its resumption. Trading along these routes would make more political, diplomatic and humanitarian sense than the attempts at normalising relations with Pakistan through trade and sports. The route to permanent peace and prosperity for the region we reiterate passes through J&K.