Joint separatist leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Monday said people of Kashmir are “under assault from all sides” and “hectic efforts are on to do away with state’s special status” by challenging Article 35-A in the Supreme Court.
“While on one hand, government forces are killing youth and firing pellets at protesters and NIA (National Investigation Agency) is persecuting the leadership, on the other, hectic efforts are now on to do away with J&K’s special status after passing of GST bill that did away with the state’s fiscal autonomy,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
“Since this Article (35-A) bars non-J&K subjects to settle and buy property in the state, it is being challenged in the court with the view to alter the demography of the state by settling people from outside the state, with the right to acquire land and property and vote in the Assembly elections. It is being promoted as part of the so-called final solution to the Kashmir issue by the government of India led by the RSS,” they alleged.
“This is a very serious issue with serious ramifications. If any effort is made in this direction, the leadership will have to ask people to launch a vigorous agitation against this major ploy to change the basic character of the state’s special status. The onus of responsibility for the consequences will lie entirely on the ruling regime,” the leaders said.
“Kashmir dispute is an internationally acknowledged conflict for which people of Kashmir for the past seven decades have given tremendous sacrifices and continue to do so and every effort to undermine that fact by such ploys is unacceptable to the people of Kashmir who will oppose it tooth and nail,” the leaders said. They said: “Instead of these tactics, the GoI should work towards the resolution of the dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.”
Efforts on to do away with J&K’s Special Status : Joint Resistance Leadership
