Srinagar: The People”s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday began the process of widening its consultations with residents in Ladakh, as the alliance asserted that the revocation of articles 370 and 35A by the Centre were unacceptable and vowed to continue the fight to reverse them.
“We will fight politically and legally as well, but our fight will be peaceful. We have no intention to vitiate the atmosphere in this state,” NC vice president Omar Abdullah told reporters in Kargil, over 200 kms from here.
A delegation of the PAGD led by Omar Abdullah visited Ladakh and held consultations with the people in Kargil “on the road ahead” for Jammu and Kashmir.
Seven mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC and the PDP, have formed the PAGD for restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Vowing to fight for the rights of the people of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir using all peaceful means, Omar said the PAGD was ready to talk to anyone to develop a wider consensus over their demands.
“We are ready to talk to anyone and we will not hesitate in doing so,” he said when asked whether the delegation was ready to talk to an apex body recently formed in Leh.
The former chief minister said he wants the representatives from Kargil to become part of the PAGD.
“We had not held any discussions with them (representatives from Kargil) so far, so how could we have included them in PAGD? Now that we have held consultations with them, we want the voices from Kargil to attend the meeting of PAGD,” he said.
Earlier, addressing people in the Drass area, Omar said the fight against last year”s decisions by the Centre would continue as the decisions were imposed on the people of the erstwhile state “illegally” without consulting them.
He said the delegation was visiting Kargil on the directions of PAGD president Farooq Abdullah, who is also the chief of the NC, and his deputy and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to meet the people and take their view point.
The visit was to take the feedback right from the ground-level, Omar said, adding that they did not want to have such a situation where they say one thing in Srinagar and the people in Kargil felt otherwise.
“It was very important to come here to bring more weight to our fight so that whether it is Srinagar or Jammu or even Parliament, we can tell the rulers at the Centre that the people of Kargil are not with your August 5, 2019 decisions,” he said. (PTI)
