Kashmir’s politics has been taking a new turn with the formation of the new People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration, a political coalition of seven parties of Jammu and Kashmir, formed after the signing of an agreement on August 4 last year by the National Conference, Indian National Congress, People’s Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (M), Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement, and ANC and CPI.
Since its first formal meeting on October 15 this year, the PAGD has been trying to create a solid framework for its functioning and the first step towards that was the election of the party head. Following a meeting on October 24 this year, the alliance elected Member of Parliament and senior political leader Farooq Abdullah as the chairman and People’s Democratic Party’s leader Mehbooba Mufti as the vice chairperson of the alliance.
Mehbooba Mufti was detained for more than a year ahead of the central government’s decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The detainment was enforced to avoid political unrest in the sensitive areas of Jammu and Kashmir through a major transition after the abrogation of the article.
Signed in Gupkar, Srinagar, the Gupkar Declaration was a joint statement signed by all the major parties of Jammu and Kashmir (barring the BJP, of course) that upholds the special status that Article 370 granted to the northernmost state of India. Following the revocation of the article, and the division of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh – the leaders of major political parties, including Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained to allow the controversy and political turmoil around Article 370’s abrogation to cool down.
With Mehbooba Mufti’s release from house arrest on October 13 this year, the leaders who signed the Gupkar Declaration last year formed a formal alliance to continue the fight for the restoration of Article 370 and special status to the union territory which allowed it to have its own constitution and enjoy selective autonomy in certain matters.
The People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration has the unlikely alliance of two historically antagonistic parties – NC (a traditional Congress ally) and PDP (which was an ally in the BJP-led NDA until last year).
With so many parties in the coalition mix, political disagreements and disorder will always be a looming possibility. The leaders of PAGD are, however, hopeful that the alliance can work together fruitfully to restore the rights of the Kashmiri people and move together towards the union territory’s development. The alliance has demanded the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir after more than a year has passed since the state was declared a union territory. With the abrogation of Article 370, the union territory came under the direct jurisdiction of the Indian constitution and the Indian flag. As a sign of defiance and its commitment towards getting the special status back for Jammu and Kashmir, the PAGD has adopted the earlier state flag as its own flag.
The PAGD will draw up its functional framework by the end of this month and name the leaders who will hold important positions within the Alliance.
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