Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti arrived in Jammu on Thursday to attend a meeting of the Peoples’ Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was formed last month to fight for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
A spokesman for the Mufti People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the meeting will take place on Saturday at the residence of another former chief minister, Farooq Abdullah. Former Minister Sajad Lone and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader MY Tarigami will be among others attending the meeting.
The meeting takes place amid anger over the notification of rules that allow foreigners to buy non-agricultural land in the Union Territory. Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, which was removed last year, prevented outsiders from buying land in the region.
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A PAGD delegation is also expected to meet with local leaders and prominent people in Jammu. Another PAGD delegation last visited Drass and Kargil in Ladakh under the leadership of former Prime Minister Omar Abdullah and vowed to fight for the restoration of special status and the unification of Jammu and Kashmir.
Members of Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal staged a protest outside Jammu airport when Mufti arrived there. They carried banners that read “Mehbooba Tiranga Uthao Ya Phir Wapis Jao [either pick up the Tricolour or go back]”.
Last month, Mufti said that members of his party would not fly the Indian tricolor unless they are allowed to fly the Jammu and Kashmir flag. The special status of the old state provided a separate flag.
Rakesh Bajrangi, a local leader, said that they will not allow any Kashmiri leader to hold the PAGD meeting in Jammu. “Jammu is a land of nationalist people and we are not going to allow the Gupkar gang to spread their anti-national agenda here.”
An additional police force was deployed to the airport to provide the Mufti with safe passage. The protesters displayed their black flags as they left the airport.
Three members of the Jammu Mufti party, Ved Mahajan, TS Bajwa and Choudhary Hussain Ali Wafa, resigned over their comments on the tricolor.
Activists Sukesh C Khajuria and Aditi Sharma have also filed complaints against Abdullah and Mufti for their allegedly provocative comments.
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