New Delhi: Sounding the poll bugle ahead of local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday termed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) an “unholy global alliance” that along with the Congress wants to return to the era of terror and turmoil.
In a series of tweets, Shah labelled the PAGD, a newly formed conglomerate of political parties, the “Gupkar Gang” that is going global and wants foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Congress and the Gupkar Gang want to take JK back to the era of terror and turmoil. They want to take away rights of Dalits, women and tribals that we have ensured by removing Article 370. This is why they’re being rejected by the people everywhere,” he said.
Shah’s comments came ahead of the first phase of District Development Council (DDC) elections on November 25, the first political exercise since the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 on August 05 last year and bifurcated the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The Home minister said Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will always be an integral part of India and the people of the country will no longer tolerate an “unholy global gathbandhan” against India’s national interest.
“Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it,” he said.
The home minister also questioned Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on whether they support the PAGD.
“The Gupkar Gang also insults India’s tricolour. Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India,” he said.
On August 04, 2019, a day before the central government announced the abrogation of the Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, political parties in Kashmir, except the BJP, met at the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah at Gupkar Road in Srinagar.
They had also issued a joint statement defending Article 370.
The constituents of the conglomerate include the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, CPI-M, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference and Awami National Conference.
The Congress recently announced that it will have a seat-sharing arrangement with the PAGD for the forthcoming elections to the District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah is its chairman and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti vice-chairperson. Veteran CPI-M leader M Y Tarigami is its convenor while People’s Conference leader Sajjad Gani Lone is the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Tuesday termed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on the Gupkar alliance as appropriate and said after the abrogation of Article 370, “a number of pro-people central laws came into force in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Welcoming Shah’s statements on the Gupkar alliance, BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference that his remarks are appropriate as PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti had made it clear that she will not raise the national flag until the separate flag of Jammu and Kashmir is restored.
Prasad also claimed that NC leader Farooq Abdullah had once stated that he will seek China’s support for the restoration of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Unlike these leaders, the people of the Jammu and Kashmir have started benefitting from pro-people central laws that have been brought into force in the Union Territory after the abrogation of special status,” Union minister Prasad said.
Prasad citing various laws claimed that women were earlier deprived of property rights in Jammu and Kashmir if they married outside, and anti-corruption laws, reservation for disadvantaged sections of society and various other “humanist” central laws were not implemented in the region.
