SRINAGAR: Leaders of Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOK) will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore region’s autonomy when they meet him on June 24 (Thursday) for the first talks since he took away the special status.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, in an online meeting, told her colleagues, “Our agenda is restoration of pre-August 5, 2019 status of Jammu and Kashmir.”
According to a party official, senior leaders of the National Conference also met over the weekend and backed a decision to push for the restoration of statehood and special status. “We will press for these two demands during the meeting with the prime minister,” the official said.
Representatives of the PDP and National Conference will also meet on Tuesday along with other members of an alliance to prepare for their talks with the prime minister, PDP spokesman Suhail Bukhari said.
In August 2019, Modi abolished Article 370 of the Constitution, ending the region’s autonomy and removing its statehood by splitting it into the federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Buddhist-dominated Ladakh.
Indian has struggled for decades to dampen secessionist sentiments in what had been its only Muslim majority state, blaming neighbouring Pakistan for supporting insurgencies in the Himalayan region, which Islamabad denies.
Several politicians were among the thousands of people detained back then to forestall a backlash against the shock move. The government also imposed months-long communications restrictions in the occupied Kashmir valley to stifle opposition.
The 2019 decision to withdraw occupied Kashmir’s autonomy drew a sharp reaction from Pakistan, leading to the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of trade.
