Kargil NC wants to be part of Kashmir, restoration of statehood and special status

Arun Joshi
Jammu, July 10

Kargil National Conference leaders have pleaded strongly that their Shia Muslim-dominated district should be restored to Kashmir and the special status and statehood of Jammu and Kashmir renewed.

They have asked for overturning the division of the former state that was split into two union territories last year. J&K was stripped of its special status under Article 370 and it was split into the two union territories.

National Conference leaders were unanimous in their demand for the restoration of their geographical, political and historical links with the Muslim majority Kashmir. The leaders said they had “serious reservations about their status, culture and opportunities in the UT of Ladakh.”

It was this grand old party of Kashmir that had negotiated the terms of Article 370 in the light of the instrument of accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh by which J&K acceded to India.

In a video conference held between leaders of @JKNC_ & @JkncKargil, Akhoon reassured the party high command and said that the people of Kargil were, are and will always be with the party. 1/n@OmarAbdullah pic.twitter.com/NEZA8nwwcz

— Qamar Ali Akhoon (@qamaraliakhoon) July 9, 2020

NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah had chosen a secular India over theocratic Pakistan, thus rejecting the two-nation theory of Jinnah.

National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, along with his colleagues from the Valley, held an interaction with the party leaders of Kargil through video conference.

The Kargil leaders included former minister Qamar Ali Akhoon and Chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil Feroz Khan.

Qamar Ali Akhoon was categorical in telling the party leadership that Ladakh’s NC unit still operates under the Kashmir provincial set up despite Kargil being part of  Ladakh. He said that the post-August 5 last year arrangement should be reversed.

“The party should pursue the case in the Supreme Court with all its legal arguments and facts to get the Article 370 and statehood restored to J&K as it existed on August 4 last year.”

The NC leaders also highlighted their grievances to the party leadership. They said that they were not happy with the current arrangement.

This interaction of NC with its leaders in Kargil holds importance as the party is gauging the mood of the people in different parts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The party is attempting to appraise itself with the political situation and access to health facilities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Omar described the interaction as “fruitful.”