Gupkar puts off meet as Mufti cites unavailability

Alliance spokesperson Tarigami says no rift in group

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 28

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an amalgam of six mainstream Jammu and Kashmir parties, today postponed a meeting it had scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June 24 outreach on the region.

The meeting was postponed after PAGD vice-chairperson Mehbooba Mufti cited her inability to attend the conference on Tuesday due to personal reasons.

The development has further fanned speculation of the simmering tension within the PAGD on the stand principal constituents ended up taking on issues concerning the state at the meeting chaired by the PM.

Even after the June 24 meeting, PAGD leaders did not appear before the media together to articulate a united stand.

The NC’s views were voiced by party vice-president Omar Abdullah, while Mehbooba Mufti spoke separately about the PDP stand.

Alliance spokesperson MY Tarigami however told The Tribune today that there were no cracks in the group.

“There is no room for speculation about a rift in the alliance. We are together. The meeting of the PAGD had been scheduled for tomorrow but Mehbooba Mufti said she would be unable to attend due to personal reasons. It was not considered advisable to proceed with the meeting in the absence of the PAGD vice-chairperson, so the meeting was postponed,” Tarigami said.

Asked what the dominant view among PAGD constituents (NC, PDP, Awami National Conference, CPM, J&K People’s Movement and CPI) was on the sticking points about J&K, Tarigami said the allies would sit together and articulate a united strategy.

The PAGD allies currently appear adamant on the restoration of full statehood for J&K ahead of elections.

They argue that the 2019 ceasefire with Pakistan has held and militancy has reduced, so the time is ripe to restore statehood.

The revocation of Article 370 – PAGD’s principal demand when it was formally formed on October 24, 2020 – has taken a backseat as both the NC and PDP are saying that they are ready for a legal struggle to get the special status restored.

Omar Abdullah has said, “If the BJP can struggle for 70 years to abrogate Article 370, we can struggle for as long as it takes to get the special status restored.”

Mufti has also said the same thing, indicating willingness to move forward towards the resolution of issues in the region.

For the PAGD to not list restoration of J&K’s special status as a precondition for talks with the PM was in itself an indication that mainstream regional parties were now willing to work for the restoration of democratic process provided the government also moved some steps forward and rebuilt the lost confidence.

Considering the PAGD had, at the time of its formation, adopted the erstwhile flag of Jammu and Kashmir to mark its commitment to the demand of special status, the latest development of agreeing to pursue the goal through legal means is a major step forward towards resolution.

The PAGD allies as other mainstream J&K parties feel the government must also grant full statehood before elections.