The leaders of the National Conference, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, visited the head of the People’s Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti, at her residence on Wednesday and invited her to a meeting of all the main regional political parties of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
The development follows the J&K management’s decision the day before to end the detention of Mehbooba Mufti, who had been under arrest since Aug. 5 last year when the Center removed J & K’s special status.
Dressed in her distinctive green, Mehbooba Mufti spent the day at her Gupkar residence meeting with her party’s leaders and supporters who had come from various parts of the valley.
“My father and I visited Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba this afternoon to inquire about his well-being after his release. She kindly accepted Farooq Sb’s invitation to join a meeting of the signers of the Gupkar Declaration tomorrow afternoon (Thursday), ”Omar tweeted.
“Today our visit was without any political reason and we wanted to know your well-being … Tomorrow’s meeting will review the current political situation and what will be the future agenda of the signatories of the Gupkar Declaration at a glance, which will also be will argue, “he said in another tweet.
The Gupkar Declaration is a joint effort by all the dominant regional political parties – the National Conference, the People’s Democratic Party, the Peoples’ Conference, the Awami National Conference and the CPI (M) – of Jammu and Kashmir to fight for the special status of the old state.
After the meeting, Mehbooba Mufti was hopeful that together they could turn things around.
“It was nice of you and Farooq sahab to go home. It gave me courage to hear it. I am sure that together we can improve things, ”Mufti responded to Omar Abdullah.
Mufti already sent a short message to Delhi just an hour after his release. Mufti said that people will have to keep fighting for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and whatever is seized by Delhi on August 5 will have to be withdrawn.
“I have become free today after more than a year. During this time, the black decision of August 5, 2019, black day, would always hurt my heart and soul. And I realize that the people at J&K would have the same sentiment. No one among us can forget the robbery and humiliation of the day, ”he said in the 1.23 min audio.
“Now we will all have to reiterate that whatever Delhi Darbar, unconstitutionally and undemocratic, has taken from us will have to be returned,” he said.
On August 4, 2019, one day before the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 by the central government and the arrest of all political leaders, a group of prominent politicians from J&K met in Srinagar in Gupkar and issued a joint statement. promising to defend the “identity, autonomy and special status of Jammu and Kashmir against all attacks and assaults of any kind”. Since then, the declaration has been known as the Gupkar Declaration.
One year after the development on August 22, 2020, the six political parties of the old state again issued a declaration and announced that they would carry out the Gupkar Declaration.
It was the first joint declaration of its kind signed by the main parties after the revocation of Article 370 and the division of the region into two union territories that hinted at the launch of a joint fight for the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. .
“We all reiterate that we are bound, in its entirety, by the content of Gupkar’s declaration and will firmly adhere to it. We are committed to fighting for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, the J&K Constitution and the restoration of the State and any division of the State is unacceptable to us. We unanimously reiterate that there can be ‘nothing about us without us,’ ”the joint statement read.
Almost all of Kashmir’s top political leaders were detained hours before the central government annulled Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to the region, and divided the state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature and Ladakh without one.
Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, the other two former senior ministers, were released on March 13 and 24, respectively.
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