SRINAGAR, May 24: The Pradesh Congress Committee, T.H. Karra today accused the Centre of adopting a “biased approach” towards J&K by granting constitutional safeguards to Ladakh while continuing to delay the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.
Addressing reporters, JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra said the differential treatment of Ladakh and J&K reflected “sheer injustice” and alleged that the Centre was deliberately ignoring the democratic aspirations of the people of J&K.
He added that we are happy that the people of Ladakh received the reward for their struggle and hard work but the way the two regions are being handled differently, and the way their grievances are being addressed differently, once again reflects a biased attitude.
He said the Congress party had been consistently fighting for the restoration of constitutional and political rights in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A in August 2019. Karra said the party had intensified its campaign over the past one-and-a-half years through protests, hunger strikes and public mobilisation programs across all 20 districts of J&K demanding restoration of statehood.
For the restoration of statehood, we have been running a movement for the last one-and-a-half years across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Alongside this, we held protests, came out on the streets, and gave calls like ‘Srinagar Chalo’, ‘Jammu Chalo’, and even ‘Delhi Chalo’,” he said.
According to Karra, around 600 to 700 Congress workers from J&K travelled to Delhi and staged protests at Jantar Mantar. He alleged that party workers who attempted to gherao Parliament were detained and beaten up.
The JKPCC chief said the party’s top leadership, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal, had fully supported the agitation in J&K.
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