NC, PDP hold meetings at Srinagar offices, their first since Article 370 was scrapped

Spokespersons of the two major political parties of Jammu and Kashmir say this isn’t ‘resumption of political activity’, demand the release of their leaders.

File image of NC chief Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti | Photo: ANI

Srinagar: The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, the two major regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir, held important meetings Monday at their respective offices for the first time in over five months.

The parties’ leaders have been under detention since Article 370 was scrapped in August, and their offices were either sealed or entry barred by security forces since then.

Because of this, the parties’ political activity has remained suspended, with members only demanding their leaders’ release. However, Monday saw the NC and PDP resume some activity, though their spokespersons insisted that the meetings should not be seen as “resumption of political activity”.

ThePrint contacted Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Shahid Choudhary to inquire if there was a change in the administration’s policy to allow political meetings. But Choudhary did not receive the calls until this report was published.

The NC meeting

The NC had held a party meet on the birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Abdullah on 5 December, as well as a women’s wing meeting in Srinagar in the same month.

However, the party held its first provincial meeting since August Monday. This is the NC’s most important gathering, and used to be held once a month before August.

“In the absence of provincial president Nasir Wani, who is under house arrest, today’s meet was chaired by our provincial secretary Showkat Mir. Between 200-250 workers from the entire Kashmir province attended the meeting,” said NC spokesperson Imran Dar.

“We passed two resolutions, including the immediate release of our party leaders — president (Farooq Abdullah), vice-president (Omar Abdullah) and general secretary. The second resolution was to do with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the protests that have followed,” Dar continued.

“We condemned the Act as well as the violence perpetrated by the government across country, including at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia. This is clearly an attempt to marginalise the Muslim population of the country,” he said.

“This is not resumption of any political activity. Today’s agenda was the release of our leaders, only then the resumption of political activity can be talked about.”

What happened at PDP HQ

Meanwhile, the PDP headquarters in Srinagar saw leaders and workers meet for the first time since 5 August.

Tahir Sayeed, additional spokesperson for the PDP, said the meet was to discuss the death anniversary of PDP founder and former J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, which will be observed on 7 January.

“We discussed the prevailing situation in J&K since 5 August. Around 50 workers and zonal in-charges attended the meet. We couldn’t contact everyone because many have changed their phone numbers during the communication blackout. For now, we just wanted to meet and discuss our plans for the death anniversary of Mufti sahib,” he said.

He said the PDP wasn’t sure it would be allowed to meet again at the premises.

“Political activity remains suspended for all the parties in Kashmir, except for one, which is the BJP. Our leaders continue to be illegally detained. Only after their release can we think about our future politics,” Sayeed said.