NC invites Mirwaiz to join Delhi protest for J&K statehood

The ruling National Conference on Thursday said the party has invited Kashmir’s chief preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to join its protest in New Delhi to press for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Mirwaiz has been invited in his capacity as the head of the Muthaida Majlis-e-Ulema, an umbrella organisation of several religious outfits.

The party has also invited the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam. “Apart from the political parties, the National Conference has invited Mirwaiz sahab, who is chief of the Muthaida Majlis-e-Ulema, and Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, the Grand Mufti of Kashmir,” said the party’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq.

He said the National Conference has invited all political parties in J&K, including the BJP, to take part in the protest. Most of the invitations have been sent out, while others are being processed. “We have invited the president of J&K BJP, as well as the heads of other political parties, including Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party and Altaf Bukhari of the Apni Party,” Sadiq said.

The National Conference has announced that it would hold a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 20, to remind the Centre of its promise to restore statehood to J&K.