Describing the Delimitation Commission Draft Report as bizarre, General Secretary Haji Ali Mohammad Sagar today said that the National Conference will not allow any attempt to divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing provincial functionaries, district presidents and constituency incharges of the Jammu division at a day-long meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan, Mr Sagar also termed the report as sheer mockery of the universally accepted and constitutionally established norms of peoples’ representation.
The General Secretary expressed concern over the repeated attempts of disempowering the people of Jammu and Kashmir by coming up with atrocious measures one after the other. First, the state was bifurcated and its status degraded as a Union Territory and thereafter the exercise for the delimitation was undertaken despite strong pleas of putting it on hold keeping in view the legal challenge in the apex court of the country against the decisions taken post August 5, 2019. The Centre, however, continued with its agenda to disempower Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Mr Sagar said the National Conference is framing up a detailed response to the draft report which is patently against the constitutional morality, constitutional propriety and constitutional values. He urged the rank and file of the party to meet the challenges posed to Jammu and Kashmir unitedly with fortitude and by maintaining the glorious ethos of the land of Sufis and Saints.
Sagar recalled how the National Conference has faced challenges for decades at the strength of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and region.
Speaking on the occasion, Provincial President Mr Rattan Lal Gupta summarily rejected the draft report, saying that norms have been violated while carrying out the exercise.
Mr Gupta said that it appears the Commission has not taken into consideration the topography and population while coming up with the draft report. Also, the concept of administrative units has been ignored and the constituencies carved out in such a way that would lead to confusion among the people. Parts of the prevailing constituencies have been detached and attached with the other constituencies, thus coming under different administrative units, he added.
Mr Gupta also expressed surprise over wiping out of several assembly constituencies from the political map of Jammu and Kashmir. Same has been the case with merging assembly constituencies of the two provinces into a single Lok Sabha Constituency which sans reason and logic, the Provincial President added.
Ali Mohammed Sagar and Mr Rattan Lal Gupta exhorted the National Conference cadre to remain steadfast in their resolve to seek justice for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Javed Ahmed Rana, Brij Mohan Sharma, Qazi Jalal Ud Din, Babu Rampaul, Jagjeevan Lal, Dr. Chaman Lal Bhagat, Ajaz Jan, Surinder Singh Bunty, Bimla Luthra, Satwant Kour Dogra, Pardeep Bali, Vijay Lochan, Abdul Gani Teli, Nar Singh, Dr. Shamshad Shan, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Mehboob Iqbal, Ch. Naseem Liaquat, Sajjad Shaheen, Shafayat Ahmed Khan, Bushan Uppal, Th. Yashu vardan Singh, Naresh Bittu, Ajeet Kumar Sharma, Sham Narian Mehta, M.K Yogi, Ragvir Singh Manhas, Sudagar Chand Gupta, K.K Bakashi, Mushtaq Ahmed, Ishtiq Ahmed and Dr Gafoor.
