Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday turned down the National Conference's invitation to join its proposed protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 20, saying a campaign focused only on restoring statehood would effectively legitimise the abrogation of Article 370.
In a letter to National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mufti thanked him for inviting the PDP to participate in the demonstration but said the party had decided against joining after consulting its senior leadership, as the protest was centred solely on the demand for statehood.
She argued that restricting the political movement to the restoration of statehood aligned with the BJP's narrative by sidelining the issue of Article 370 and risked "whitewashing the illegal and unconstitutional actions of August 5, 2019."
Mufti said the people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to endure the "collective humiliation and dehumanisation" they faced following the abrogation of Article 370 and the conversion of the erstwhile state into a Union Territory.
She also wrote that the constitutional guarantees underpinning Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India had been removed in a single stroke.
Recalling the 2024 Assembly elections, the PDP chief noted that both her party and the National Conference had pledged to restore Article 370 in their election manifestos. She said the National Conference's overwhelming electoral mandate reflected the public's faith in that commitment.
Expressing concern over the party's current political approach, Mufti alleged that the National Conference had gradually narrowed the broader political struggle in Jammu and Kashmir to the issue of statehood, thereby normalising the BJP's agenda.
She also criticised the Omar Abdullah-led government, alleging that it had remained a "mute spectator" to several developments, including the dismissal of government employees, action against Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliated institutions, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on literature and environmental degradation.
Drawing a comparison with Ladakh, Mufti referred to the united efforts of leaders there in seeking constitutional safeguards and recalled that she had earlier written to Farooq Abdullah proposing a similar united political initiative involving regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir. She said she had not even received a formal acknowledgement of that letter.
Calling for a broader political consensus, Mufti urged Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to convene an all-party meeting involving regional political parties and civil society organisations to prepare a common roadmap for addressing the region's political and constitutional challenges.
She also sought the release of political prisoners and the removal of restrictions on socio-political organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, saying these issues should be part of any meaningful political engagement.
In the concluding part of her letter, Mufti warned that limiting the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to the restoration of statehood alone would amount to a "grave injustice" and "a betrayal" of their constitutional rights.
She maintained that participating in a protest solely for statehood could be interpreted as endorsing the developments of August 5, 2019, and called on all regional parties to unite instead for the restoration of Article 370.
Although she declined to take part in the demonstration, Mufti conveyed her best wishes for the success of the National Conference's proposed Jantar Mantar protest.
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