PDP to stay away from delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir

SRINAGAR : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday said that it would not meet the delimitation commission and termed the exercise as "preplanned" in favour of a particular party. They also alleged that the whole process "aimed to further hurt the interests of people" of Jammu and Kashmir.
"On August 5, 2019, the constitutional and democratic values of our country were trampled upon with the people of Jammu and Kashmir being robbed of their legitimate constitutional and democratic rights by means of abrogation of Article 370 and 35 (A) of the Indian constitution, illegally and unconstitutionally," PDP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said.
The general secretary, Hanjuria conveyed these feelings to the head of delimitation commission, a retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakesh Desai, who is presently on a 4-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
"The day also saw the people of Jammu and Kashmir being humiliated and demeaned by downgrading and bifurcation of an almost 200 year old state, an act, with no precedence in the independent India," reads the letter.
"The Reorganization Act being a product of the same process, we are of the considered opinion that the delimitation commission lacks constitutional and legal mandate in the first place and its very existence and objectives have left every ordinary resident of Jammu and Kashmir with many questions", he said,
He further added that, "There are apprehensions that the delimitation exercise is part of the overall process of political disempowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the government of India has embarked on."
He further said, "At the very core of these apprehensions is the process through which the commission has been constituted and the fact that while the delimitation process across the country has been put on hold till 2026, Jammu and Kashmir has been made an exception. There are apprehensions that the process is aimed at realizing the political vision of a particular political party in Jammu and Kashmir wherein, like other things, the views and wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir would be considered the least."
PDP was alliance partner of the BJP in the last government and the latter withdrew from the coalition and subsequently, abrogated Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories amid massive security and communication clampdown, the PDP leader said in his letter.
"It is a widespread belief that contours and outcome of the exercise are pre-planned and the exercise per say is mere formality.The very intent is under question," he said.
Referring to PDP’s participation in All Party Meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party said it did not want to come "in way of what could have been an initiation of a reconciliation process aimed at restoring the rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir."
"Taking this opportunity, we would like to put on record that despite the utter humiliation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, undermining of our constitutional and democratic rights, vilification and incarceration of political leadership and ordinary citizens, when the Prime Minister convened an all party meeting in New Delhi on June 24, we didn't let our hurt come in way of what could have been an initiation of a reconciliation process aimed at restoring the rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
"Hence, we participated in the meeting. In the meeting we emphasized on the need to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and suggested specific confidence building measures that could lead to breaking the ice in the process of addressing the massive trust deficit between New Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir," Gulam Nabi Lone of PDP said.
He further said, "We are disappointed to see that after the all party meeting nothing has moved and no effort has been made to bring ease into the lives of people, giving credence to those, who had in the first instance, called the meeting a mere photo opportunity."
Leave aside acting on the suggested confidence building measures, he said, the Union government has continued with its "daily dictates to the people of Jammu and Kashmir including the recent amendments and orders including those making every person a suspect (government employees antecedents verification order) and deepening the divide between two regions of Jammu and Kashmir (the order related to Darbar move)."
"Our party in light of the above has decided to stay away from this process and not be part of some exercise, the outcome which is widely believed to be pre-planned and which may further hurt the interests of our people," he added.