PM Modi meets J&K leaders in big outreach
Restoration of statehood, fresh polls, delimitation discussed in first interaction between Centre, J&K parties
NEW DELHI: In the Union government’s first outreach to Jammu and Kashmir’s political leadership in almost two years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a crucial meeting with 14 leaders, including four former chief ministers, to chalk out the future course of action in the Union Territory (UT). The prime minister, accompanied by Union home minister Amit Shah, national security adviser Ajit Doval and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, received the leaders from eight parties, including the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, at his residence.
This is the first interaction between the central leadership and the mainstream parties since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcated it into two UTs, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh, principal secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra and Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla were among those who attended the meeting. The four former chief ministers of the erstwhile state who participated in the discussions were Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Four former deputy chief ministers were in attendance too – Congress’s Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig and BJP’s Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, J-K Congress head GA Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh also formed part of the delegation.
Officials aware of the developments said that while there was no fixed agenda for the meeting, the restoration of statehood, delimitation and fresh elections were discussed.
The meeting comes weeks after the delimitation commission for J&K wrote to all 20 of the UT’s district commissioners seeking both quantitative and qualitative data. Set up in early 2020, and given an extension earlier this year, the commission has been tasked with delin
eating the boundaries of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies. It is only after this process is complete that elections can be held. And there’s hope in the Kashmir valley that the issue of the elections and the restoration of the region’s statehood are linked.
The delimitation exercise is critical to the elections. So far, both the PDP and the NC have boycotted the exercise of redrawing the constituencies in the UT in accordance with the provisions of Part V of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 and Delimitation Act, 2002 .
The meeting signals the restarting of political engagement between mainstream Kashmiri parties and the Centre, which in August 2019 voided Articles 370 and 35A that bestowed special status to Jammu and Kashmir and privileges to its residents, and split the state into two UTs.
All mainstream political leaders were detained, internet and phone connections were snapped and curfew-like restrictions were imposed in the Valley for months.
Political parties in the region have been bitterly opposed to the state’s transformation into two UTs and the revocation of Article 370. Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mufti on Tuesday stressed that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an alliance of mainstream parties in Kashmir, will press for the restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status at the all-party meeting, and not just settle for the restoration of the region’s full statehood.
“What happened in August 2019 is unacceptable. Article 370, which gave the state its special status, was unconstitutionally removed. We will not settle for less. We want Article 370 to be restored,” Mufti told HT. Ahead of the meeting on Thursday, Farooq Abdullah said, “I will keep my agenda in the meeting and then talk to you.”
With no agenda announced for the meeting, the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir said they have come with an open mind.
“We have not been given an agenda. We will be attending the meeting to know what the Centre is offering,” said Tarigami, who is also spokesperson of the six-party PAGD that was formed in the aftermath of the August 2019 decisions.
Officials aware of the development said the Centre is keen on holding assembly elections in the UT as early as possible, maybe in December this year or March 2022 after the delimitation commission headed by former justice Ranjana Desai completes its task of redrawing constituencies in the next few months.
BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president Raina said Thursday’s interaction convened by the prime minister is in accordance with the wishes of heads of various political parties who have been seeking time from him for a long time.
News of the meeting broke last Friday but months of backchannel talks between the Union home ministry and NSA Doval with mainstream politicians in the Valley paved the way for the event, said people aware of developments. On Saturday, Union home secretary AK Bhalla called all members personally to extend an invitation for the meeting.
“For the first time after the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the ice is breaking between the centre and J&K leadership. The government of India wants to initiate political process as they have realised without major players it’s difficult to manage J&K. Now it will bargaining for political rights and time will answer how much sincerity will be shown in this round of talks,” said Asem Mohiuddin, editor of weekly The Legitimate.