Mehbooba Mufti Declines Farooq Abdullah's Invite For Jantar Mantar Protest

Mehbooba Mufti has declined Farooq Abdullah's invitation to the National Conference protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar seeking restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. The PDP chief said she would join the agitation if the NC includes the restoration of Article 370 and the release of political prisoners in its charter of demands.

The PDP chief has said that the protests for restoration of statehood alone will legitimise the BJP's "odious narrative of relegating Article 370 to the back burner and whitewashing the illegal and unconstitutional harakiri carried out in stealth on 5th August 2019".

"After careful deliberation, PDP has decided to join the Jantar Mantar protest only if the restoration of Article 370 and the release of political prisoners are at the heart of the agenda. Participating in a protest that is confined solely to statehood would amount to putting the last nail in the coffin of our larger constitutional struggle for Article 370, thus legitimising the BJP's illegal August 5, 2019 actions. Our fight is for constitutional rights, not one-time symbolic gestures," she wrote on X.

In a strongly worded two-page letter to Farooq Abdullah, Mufti said that reducing the demand for statehood alone is a betrayal of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It would be a grave injustice, a disservice, and a sheer betrayal to reduce the honourable aspirations of the people of J&K to the petty, myopic, short-sighted, and detrimental demand for statehood alone. Protesting in unison solely for statehood would only legitimise and sanitise the illegal act of revoking J&K's special status and could be viewed as a direct endorsement of 5th August-the darkest day in our collective history," she added.

Two other local parties -- Peoples Conference and Apni Party -- have already announced they will not join the protest. People's Conference leader Sajad Lone has also termed the Monday protest as a "process to bury Article 370 and 35A".

The Congress has announced it will join Omar Abdullah's protest for the restoration of J&K's statehood at Jantar Mantar on Monday.

Tariq Hamid Karra, President, Jammu and Kashmir Congress, said that besides leaders from JKPCC, the central leadership of the Congress will also join the protests for restoration of statehood on July 20. So far, it's unclear if Rahul Gandhi will join the protest.

"National Conference may not have joined our protests for restoration of statehood, but will surely join the protest they are holding at Jantar Mantar on July 20," said Karra.

The National Conference has invited the INDIA bloc and several other parties and leaders to join the protest on July 20 at Jantar Mantar.

The Congress has sought to raise the political stakes by demanding "Statehood Plus" for Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera, who heads the party's media and publicity department, said the party has consistently advocated for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's "snatched rights".

"Omar Abdullah's protest is for statehood. The Congress has been talking about Statehood Plus for the past two years. Statehood Plus means not just statehood, but constitutional guarantees for land and job rights. Statehood alone is not enough," Khera said.