SRINAGAR 17 Jul : The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Friday announced that it will participate in the National Conference’s proposed protest in New Delhi on July 20 seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, with JKPCC president Tariq Hamid Karra claiming that the campaign for statehood was originally launched by the Congress.
Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Karra said the National Conference had invited senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to join the demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
He said the demand for statehood was not confined to any single political party but reflected the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Statehood represents the aspirations, emotions and sentiments of 1.4 crore people of Jammu and Kashmir. Any individual, NGO or political party that wants to join this movement is welcome,” Karra said.
The Congress leader said the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit had launched its ‘Hamari Riyasat, Hamara Haq’ (Our State, Our Right) campaign a year ago to press for the restoration of statehood.
According to Karra, the campaign was taken to all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir to create public awareness, followed by district-level demonstrations in both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions. He added that the party also organised hunger strikes across all 20 districts as part of its statehood campaign.
The National Conference, led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and party president Farooq Abdullah, has called a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20, the opening day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, to press for the immediate restoration of full statehood and constitutional guarantees for Jammu and Kashmir. The party has also invited leaders from several national and regional political parties, civil society organisations, academics and legal experts to join the protest.
