On the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir’s major political parties staged protests accusing the Centre of subverting the Constitution and eroding democracy, while the BJP marked the day with a Tiranga rally celebrating the move.
On 5 August 2019, the BJP government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370 of the Indian constitution and degraded the status of the erstwhile state by dividing it into two Union Territories
The National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held separate demonstrations in Srinagar, calling August 5 a symbol of “constitutional betrayal” and “selective targeting” of Jammu and Kashmir.
Both protests were, however, confined to the premises of the respective party headquarters, as police barred the two party leaders from marching towards Lal Chowk. Police and central armed police force forces were deployed in strength around the offices, preventing the protesters to move out in the roads.
“Around 100 -150 partly workers and leaders had assembled here to protest and outside the office gate thousands of security men were deployed. This in itself tells the story of J&K,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti who led the protest told reporters in Srinagar.
The NC leaders said the Lt Governor who controls law and order has disallowed the protest march. The protesters were demanding restoration of J&K special status. The Congress which is observing August 5 as a “black day” staged a sit-in at the party headquarters.
J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra said, ” On 5 August 2019, the identity of the people of J&K was taken away from them. J&K was not only divided into two, but the two parts were also degraded. Under no circumstances is this day worth celebrating for the people of J&K. It is a day of mourning for us…”
The BJP workers took out a out “Tiranga” rally in Lal Chowk Srinagar to celebrate the 6th anniversary of abrogation of Article 370.
Meanwhile, on the anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, several Kashmir’s political leaders lashed out at the Union government, accusing it of “subverting the Constitution” through brute majority and turning August 5 into a grim reminder of “democracy’s erosion and selective targeting of the region.”
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti today said August 5 marks a “black day not just for Jammu & Kashmir, but for the entire nation.”
“On this day, the Constitution was subverted not by foreign hands, but from within, by a brute majority in the heart of our democracy. The unconstitutional abrogation of J&K’s special status was not an end it was the beginning of a broader assault on constitutional values,” she said in a post on X.
She claimed that J&K was turned into a laboratory its people disempowered, its land dispossessed, its demography targeted.
“What many saw as a local issue was a warning for all. Today, that warning is unfolding across the country.
In Bihar (SIR) threatens to disenfranchise lakhs. From Tamil Nadu to Kashmir non-local voters are being added en masse, paving the way for demographic manipulation and electoral distortion. If India does not wake up now, what began in J&K will soon define the nation,” she said.
Peoples Conference chairman and MLA Sajad Lone said August 5 will always be a brutal reminder of “undermining of democracy and an ugly example of selective targeting.”
“This was the day when whatever little was left from the glories of the past was taken away. I will never lose hope. We will get what has been taken away. If the glories don’t last the inglorious won’t last either,” he said.
