Elections
National Conference boycotts polls; clarify where you stand on 35-A, Omar Abdullah tells GoI
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference spokesperson, Ruhullah Mehdi, tweeted on Wednesday that the party would not participate in the municipal and panchayat elections until the government of India would ‘clear’ its position regarding 35-A.
Omar Abdullah retweeted it with the comment: “It is now for the central government to clarify where it stands with regard to Art 35-A. It’s not enough to use Panchayat & Municipal elections simply to delay proceedings in court.”
It is now for the central government to clarify where it stands with regard to Art 35-A. It’s not enough to use Panchayat & Municipal elections simply to delay proceedings in court. https://t.co/R0rwfS00Cs
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 5, 2018
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik during a crucial meeting at Hyderpora urged people to boycott the upcoming municipal elections with the spirit of denying recognition to National Conference, PDP and other mainstream political parties who, they said, are collaborating with Government of India just to “strengthen the roots of occupation” in Jammu and Kashmir.
JRL commended people on their steadfastness and unity in strongly opposing the tinkering with hereditary state subject law being challenged in the Indian Supreme Court by anti Kashmir agencies and organisations. They said people of J&K have always stood up and resisted every move of occupation and subjugation thrust upon them.
The comments come at a time when the Supreme Court of India adjourned the hearing of petitions against Article 35-A in the Constitution to January next year.
This came after Jammu and Kashmir government approached the SC seeking adjournment of the hearing.
In a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court and circulated, M Shoeb Alam, the standing counsel for the state in the apex court, sought adjournment of hearing on five petitions scheduled for Friday, by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
According to Intelligence reports, agencies had warned about the revolt in the police ranks in a written communication to the state government.
People across the political and regional divide have come together to protest against attempts to revoke Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution which empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
Recently, National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval at a book launch on Sardar Vallabhai Patel on Tuesday said that having a separate constitution for Jammu and Kashmir was ‘probably an aberration’ and stressed on the fact that sovereignty can never be compromised.
