Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Congress leadership on Monday left for the national capital under the ‘Delhi Chalo’ programme to ‘gherao’ Parliament, pressing for a bill for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The party leadership lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “utter failure” to fulfil the demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, despite his repeated commitments to restore statehood, both inside and outside Parliament.
“The prime minister has committed to restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir — not once, but several times in the past. He promised people that he would restore it, both inside and outside Parliament. So, we are heading to Delhi to intensify the agitation for statehood,” Congress national general secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir told reporters in Jammu.
Mir, along with Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra, led more than 160 party leaders in five double-decker buses from Jammu on Monday. “It has been 10 months since the Lok Sabha elections, but statehood has not been restored yet. The PM should fulfil his commitment to restoring the rights of the people of the state,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Karra said, “To get back our statehood, which is our constitutional right, we are heading towards the national capital under the Delhi Chalo programme. We will try to gherao Parliament there. We want to wake up this deaf and blind government. They remain silent on fulfilling the demand for granting statehood, which they promised both inside Parliament and outside it.”
Karra said that following the letter sent to the prime minister by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge regarding the demand for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, they started protests — first ‘Srinagar Chalo’, then ‘Jammu Chalo’, and “now we are heading for Delhi”.
The party first held a protest in Srinagar on July 19 to demand the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. It was followed by a protest march led by Karra and Mir in the heart of Jammu on July 20. The group intended to march to the Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha but was stopped by police barricades. Both Karra and Mir were among those detained.
