Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 5 : While BJP leaders and party workers across the country are celebrating the successful completion of six years since the abrogation of Article 370, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress are protesting against it. PDP President Mehbooba Mufti termed August 5 as a black day not just for Kashmir but for the whole nation.
Led by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and Party leader Iltija Mufti, dozens of party workers gathered to protest against the abrogation of Article 370.
"We are protesting here, and thousands of police are deployed. This tells everything about the situation in Kashmir," Mehbooba Mufti said.
She further added, "Today is a black day not just for Jammu & Kashmir but also the entire country. On this day (5th August 2019), the ruling party used its brute majority to end Article 370 (in J&K) unconstitutionally...Even today, I would like to tell the people of the nation that they should wake up...Today, you are seeing SIR exercise being carried out in Bihar, the Election Commission has weaponised voters' list so that lakhs of people can be deprived of voting...There are attempts being made to change our demography...The same has started in Tamil Nadu with the addition of lakhs of new voters from outside the state."
Making some serious allegations against the Centre, Mufti added, "Jammu & Kashmir has been made a laboratory...I am saying this today to people of the country that their condition will be worse than ours, and then no one will come to help them because no one is coming to help us."
She stated that democracy is in danger and said, "Today, our party workers wanted to hold a demonstration, but we were not allowed; 'Dum ghuta hai'....What happened with us in 2019 is happening in the entire country today. There is danger to our democracy today..."
Party leader Iltija Mufti was also present at the protest, echoed the same sentiments. "On 5 August 2019, the illegal abrogation of Article 370 was done. The Constitution and the flag of J&K were taken away from us... We are a legal party, and even six years after the abrogation of Article 370, we are not being allowed to protest."
She mentioned what happened six years ago saying, "We were put under house arrest six years ago, and the common people of J&K, political parties and 'jamaat' were put under arrest. There has been no change even after six years... A huge CRPF vehicle has been stationed here, and we are not being allowed to move forward... Nothing has changed here... For the last week, there have been so many rumours that maybe Jammu will be separated and South Kashmir will be merged with Jammu and given statehood... Which part of the Indian Constitution is being implemented here?"
"We are being stripped off of our fundamental right to speak and protest. Not just our special status, flag, and constitution, but efforts are being made to take our voices and our rights away", she added.
In August 2019, the Central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repealed Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, effectively ending the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The restoration of statehood has been a key demand from the regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories in August 2019.