A six-party alliance pushing for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status rejected the draft recommendations of the delimitation commission on Tuesday and said it will hold a protest in Srinagar on January 1 against the “unacceptable and divisive” proposals.
At a meeting on Monday, the three-member delimitation commission proposed adding six assembly seats in the Jammu region and one in Kashmir. The panel, which has lawmakers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC) as associate members, also proposed reserving nine seats for scheduled tribes and seven for scheduled castes, a first in the Union Territory.
If the proposal is cleared, the total number of poll constituencies will rise from 83 to 90, with 43 in the Jammu region and 47 in Kashmir. In the current state House, Jammu has 37 members and Kashmir has 46.
The Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was set up on October 20, 2020 to fight for the restoration of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under article 370,met on Tuesday at the Jammu residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah to discuss the draft proposal. The meeting was chaired by Abdullah and attended by the Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, Awami National Conference vice president, Muzuffar Shah and other leaders.
“Alliance leadership wants peace and not the confrontation. For the legitimate rights of people, we will be raising our voice peacefully. On January 1, we will be holding peaceful protest in Srinagar against the proposal of delimitation commission, which is unacceptable to all of us and all the people and all the communities,” said Tarigami.
{{/usCountry}}“Alliance leadership wants peace and not the confrontation. For the legitimate rights of people, we will be raising our voice peacefully. On January 1, we will be holding peaceful protest in Srinagar against the proposal of delimitation commission, which is unacceptable to all of us and all the people and all the communities,” said Tarigami.
{{/usCountry}}“The proposals of delimitation commission...are divisive and is not in the interests of people of Jammu and Kashmir,,” he added.
The delimitation commission, which aims to carve out new poll constituencies in the region, was set up in March 2020 with five parliament members from the UT as associate members. The delimitation process is important because it is the first step towards holding fresh elections in the region that has been under central rule for three years.
Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status and statehood on August 5, 2019, when the central government moved to void Article 370 of the Constitution. At a landmark all-party meeting in June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told leaders of political parties that statehood will be restored after fresh elections are held in the region, on the basis of the delimitation process.
But parties from the region, which remains bitterly opposed to the scrapping of its special status, want statehood to be restored before delimitation and elections – a demand rejected by the Centre.
Tarigami said that delimitation in the region should have happened along with the rest of the country but the BJP wanted to divide people on religion and regional lines. “And the fresh draft proposal if accepted, will create divisions. This is a step to divide people on regional and community lines. BJP’s plan is to divide people not only in country but also in J&K,” he said.
He said that If these proposals are accepted, the crisis of J&K will deepen further . “This decision will break the heart of the people. We request the government, delimitation commission, Parliament and leaders of political parties that they should hear our aspirations,” he added.
Tarigami said that alliance wanted peace and not confrontation. “For the legitimate rights of the people, we will raise our voice peacefully.”