Jammu:The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Saturday said it stands for the struggle to safeguard genuine rights of the people and the lost identity of the erstwhile state after the abrogation of its special status last year.

“The party has time and again reiterated its demand for the restoration of full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir along with constitutional guarantees and safeguards for the land and jobs to local residents.

“The party also supports the demand of the people of Ladakh for protection of their rights under the sixth schedule of the Constitution,” J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president G A Mir said in a statement here.

He said the entire top brass of the party would meet shortly to review the whole post-Aug 5 situation and take the “appropriate decision to intensify its struggle on all issues, taking into account the sentiments of the majority of the people in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh”.

Mir said his party, along with other like-minded parties, had on August 4, 2019 sought the status quo on the issue of special status amid the apprehensions that the central government may resort to some unique and unilateral action.

“Those fears came out to be true when the Centre government resorted to the undemocratic and arbitrary exercise of power by disbanding, dividing and downgrading the historical state into (two) UTs while abrogating the special status of the state unconstitutionally, followed by lockdown and unprecedented restrictions on all mainstream leaders,” the Congress leader said.

He said his party vehemently opposed the “unilateral and arbitrary” moves of the Centre both in the Parliament and outside it and consistently protested against its “undemocratic and authoritarian actions” that followed after August 5 decisions.

Press Trust of India