Amid heightened clamor for not infringing upon the Article 35A, senior leaders of the opposition Wednesday called on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here.

The leaders suggested that attempts to tinker with the article will have ‘serious consequences’ in the state and demanded that an All Party Delegation should be sent to meet the Prime Minister and appraise him about the concerns of the political parties.

JKPCC, Chief G A Mir, CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami, PDF Chairman Hakeem Yaseen, DPN president Ghulam Hassan Mir met the CM at her Gupkar residence.

While Mir met CM on Tuesday evening, the other leaders met her today morning at her residence.

Sources said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called on phone JKPCC President G A Mir for a meeting at her Gupkar residence on Tuesday evening at 8.

When contacted G A Mir confirmed that he met the chief minister at her residence. He said that he expressed his concerns over the issue and suggested that all the political parties and the people in the state need to come together for protecting the Article 35 A.

“I told the chief minister that her role is very important as she is the head of the state and heads the alliance with BJP. She will be responsible for any tinkering with the Article 35 A,” Mir said.

He said that the Congress party is ready for the support to the government for protection of the special status of the state.

“I suggested Mehbooba Mufti to lead an All Party Delegation to the Centre to apprise the people there about the disastrous fallout of the weakening or abrogating Article 35 A. Our duty is to defend the Article,” he said.

The Congress leader said that he felt the Chief Minister is “serious” and has “realised her mistake of bargaining her basic ideology for chair”.

“May be her meetings (over Article 35 A) with the opposition is a signal to her alliance partner telling them that any move to weaken the Article 35 A and special status of the state will not be tolerated,” he said.

Mir who chaired the Congress meeting in Jammu said that he “is happy that Jammu leaders extended their support for the protection of the Article 35 A”.

“It is a concern of all the people of the three regions-Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir, cutting across the party politics and ideologies,” he said.

Pertinently, CPI (M) State Secretary, M Y Tarigami, PDF Chairman Hakeem Yaseen, DPN President Ghulam Hassan Mir met the CM at her Gupkar residence in the morning.

 The leaders during their almost an hour long meeting discussed the ‘serious implications’ the move will have in the state and how it will affect the state’s relation with the country.

Tarigami later that the leaders besides other measures suggested that a delegation of senior leaders and politicians should meet PM Modi and apprise him about the fallout in case the article is abrogated or tinkered with.

 “We told the chief minister that the issue is very crucial and abrogation of the Article 35 A will be dangerous for the country and the state. Government should play its effective role with the centre and in the Supreme Court to safeguard and protect the article,” Tarigami said.

The trio told the chief minister that intellectuals and civil society and other likeminded parties should get together in Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir, as any infringement on Article 35A will affect all the regions.

“All parties should rise above their parties and partisan politics and get together in one voice against tinkering or weakening the article,” he said, adding that its removal will have serious consequences in the state and country as well.

The senior leader said that the Chief Minister expressed her concerns about the abrogation of the article and said that the government is making all its “efforts” at all levels to contest the petition in the Supreme Court.

The leaders suggested that people “who believe in democratic values in the country should be made aware” about the implications of the removal of the article. 

Tarigami said that the leaders besides other measures suggested that a delegation of senior leaders and politicians should meet PM Modi and apprise him about the fallout of abrogating the article 35A.

“We told the chief minister that the issue is very crucial and abrogation of the Article 35 A will be dangerous for the country and the state. Government should play its effective role with the centre and in the Supreme Court to safeguard and protect the article,” Tarigami added.

Guest