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NC, BJP supporters hold parallel protests in Srinagar
For the first time, along with NC workers, dozens of NC legislators led by health and education minister Sakina Itoo held a protest against the Centre and the BJP, blaming them for becoming an impediment in the restoration of statehood, Article 370 and 35A
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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) protest in Srinagar and march toward the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister’s office at the civil secretariat on Wednesday gave the ruling National Conference (NC) an opportunity to hold a parallel protest demanding the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.
For the first time, along with NC workers, dozens of NC legislators led by health and education minister Sakina Itoo held a protest against the Centre and the BJP, blaming them for becoming an impediment in the restoration of statehood, Article 370 and 35A.
Although NC leaders have been issuing statements on statehood and their legislators also held a protest in New Delhi on the first day of the monsoon session, this is the first time NC legislators and workers have openly demanded the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A on the streets of Srinagar.
In response to the BJP’s call for secretariat gherao, the NC on Tuesday night decided to hold a protest outside the BJP office in Srinagar and Jammu, blaming the Centre and the party for failing to restore statehood.
However, when police contained NC workers at Gindun Park, Rajbagh, legislators and workers staged the protest outside the park and had minor scuffles with the police. They raised slogans against the BJP and in favour of statehood restoration and Article 35A.
After the revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two UTs on August 5, 2019, the BJP has termed Article 370 a closed chapter while remaining open to statehood restoration. Even the NC, especially the CM Omar Abdullah, had focused primarily on statehood restoration, for which it faced criticism from the opposition and even from its own MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah.
Even Omar several times said Article 370 won’t get restored under the BJP rule and his focus is on the statehood restoration. However, the protest call against the CM has now given the NC an opportunity to vocally demand restoration of Article 370 and 35A.
“The BJP has given the NC a chance to take to the streets for statehood, Article 370, and 35A. Earlier, NC legislators and even the CM were hopeful that after a landslide victory, they could win statehood back. With the government’s two years in office nearing completion, it seems the NC leadership has also lost hope, and the BJP’s protest has given them an opportunity to agitate for Article 370. By doing this, the party kills two birds with one stone: first, the protest answers its critics; second, it forces the BJP—which considers Article 370 a closed topic and does not want to protest it—to face the fact that the ruling party has made it a central issue again,” said Haroon Rashid, political analyst and columnist.
The opposition, however, termed it as a fixed match between two parties - one ruling in UT and another in New Delhi. “The very same police that won’t allow the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to step outside its office to hold a peaceful protest on public issues have facilitated both BJP and NC to protest against each other. This blatant double standards must be explained, who authorises these selective restrictions and why the law is being applied differently to different political parties,” PDP president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X.
‘BJP facilitated, NC repressed’: Omar slams ‘differential treatment’ of protesters
Omar on Wednesday accused the police and the administration of adopting different standards while dealing with protests by the BJP and the NC, claiming while the saffron leaders were escorted, those from his party were dragged.
Talking to reporters, Abdullah said while police “facilitated” the BJP leaders during their march to the civil secretariat on Wednesday, his NC colleagues were “brutally repressed”.
“You saw one protest that was denied. It showed the situation in J&K today: if you want to march on the CM’s residence, you’re allowed to; if you want to gherao the secretariat, you’re allowed to; but if you want to protest outside the BJP’s office, God forbid, you will not be allowed, because the police are there only to protect the honour of the BJP; they don’t care about anything else,” the CM said.
The BJP, however, also claimed that police used force to disrupt their march. The BJP protest was led by MP and state president Sat Sharma and LoP in the assembly, Sunil Sharma, who blamed the NC government for using police to curtail their protest.
“The current government has failed on all fronts. Recently they hiked electricity tariffs despite promising free electricity in their election manifesto. Similarly, the ruling party made backdoor appointments at the cost of J&K’s unemployed youth,” Sharma said.
“Today’s message was loud and clear - jobs, transparency, development and accountability, not backdoor deals. The NC government must answer. The people will not stay silent,” he said.
