Kashmir’s chief preacher Mirwaiz backs National Conference’s Jantar Mantar protest

Kashmir’s chief preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said the National Conference’s Jantar Mantar protest should go beyond the demand for statehood, and include the restoration of Articles 370 and 35-A, rights for political prisoners, and “peaceful conflict resolution”.

Addressing the Friday congregation at the Jamia Masjid here, Mirwaiz said he received an invitation from National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah to join the party’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20 to press the Centre for the immediate restoration of the statehood.

He said after the 2019 “unilateral changes” brought by the Centre, Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded to a Union Territory and its constitutional safeguards were “snatched” from the people, “leaving them vulnerable and disempowered”.

“As such, any effort by any political alliance, organisation or individual working for the restoration of the usurped rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is the need of the hour,” he said.

Mirwaiz said it is the foremost responsibility of the NC government towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who gave it a mandate on the fulfil promise that, once elected, it would revive the pre-2019 status of J-K, including the restoration of statehood and Articles 370 and 35A.

Mirwaiz said the agitation should also include the rights of political prisoners and youth languishing in jails for years without trial or continued incarceration despite receiving bail, and it should address people’s longing for lasting peace and life with dignity through conflict resolution.