Conflict
GoI’s all-party meet with JK politicians is on delimitation exercise, not on statehood restoration: Report
New Delhi: Ahead of the Government of India’s meeting with politicians of Jammu and Kashmir, sources quoted in a news report by NDTV said that the meeting would be on the delimitation exercise and not on the restoration of the statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, the GoI had promised that statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time and that time has not come yet.
The meeting is an attempt to seek political validation of the administrative exercise which started in the first week of June, the report said quoting sources.
As per the report, the GoI is ready to begin the assembly election process for which the delimitation exercise has to be completed first. The delimitation involves redrawing the boundaries of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in a state or Union Territory.
Another report said that ahead of the political outreach, a high-level ministerial meeting is underway at Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s residence.
The country’s Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are attending the meeting which comes in a twin backdrop — of the much-anticipated JK meet and the lingering probability of a Cabinet rejig.
The meeting is likely to discuss the Jammu and Kashmir outreach agenda, with the GoI keen to restore political and electoral democracy in JK.
On Saturday, the Government of India extended an invitation to National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and other top political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir for a meeting with Narendra Modi on June 24.
The Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla today invited all 14 political leaders of the erstwhile state for the meeting and asked them to present a COVID negative report, officials said.
The meeting will take place in New Delhi at the Prime Minister’s residence. The meeting , as per reports, will be seen as a bid to move the political process in the UT after a gradual easing of restrictions on the internet and detention of political leaders.
The agenda ahead includes completion of the delimitation exercise and holding of assembly elections for the installation of a government.
On Friday, the country’s Home Minister Amit Shah had reviewed the situation in the sensitive Union Territory, sparking speculation about a possible political initiative. The meeting will be the first such gathering since the GoI announced the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into union territories in August 2019.
It is likely to be attended by Amit Shah and other leaders. The political mainstream of the union territory, especially those having a strong base in Kashmir Valley, have been critical of successive administrations of the union territory for neglecting the demands of the people and raising questions on the development slogan raised post-August 2019.
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