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Updated October 25th, 2020 at 12:21 IST

Omar Abdullah fires back at Law Minister RS Prasad's 'won't restore Article 370' remark

In a sharp response to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, NC leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that he doesn't expect the Centre to restore Article 370

Reported by: Navashree Nandini
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In a sharp response to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, NC leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that he doesn't expect the Centre to restore Article 370 and hinted that the newly formed Gupkar alliance might move to Court seeking the restoration. The Law Minister had on Saturday said that Article 370 of the Constitution will not be restored as it was abrogated by Constitutional means. As per news agency PTI, Prasad opined that Mehbooba Mufti's will "bring back the state flag" was "downright denunciation" of the national flag. 

Now, responding to him, Omar Abdullah has asked if Ravi Shankar Prasad is hinting that the "Supreme Court has surrendered its Independence". He also fired back at the law minister asking him not to presume what the Court will decide. 

READ | Mob barges into PDP's office to hoist national flag after Mufti refuses to hoist tricolour

The six parties - the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M), Peoples Movement (PM) and Awami National Conference (ANC) - came together to form the People’s Alliance For Gupkar Declaration and sought to restore the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K.

READ | PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti Refuses To Raise Indian Tricolour Till 'J&K Flag Is Brought Back'

In the second meeting of the Gupkar Alliance, J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah was elected as the president and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was elected as the Vice president. JKPC chief Sajad Lone said that the alliance was 'not anti-national' and fought to restore the rights of the people of J&K and Ladakh. PAGD will hold a convention on November 17 and the symbol of the alliance will be the Flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu-Kashmir, which used to be raised at the civil secretariat in Srinagar, said Lone. On Friday, Mufti had said that she would raise the Indian tricolour only when the Jammu-Kashmir state flag 'comes back'.

READ | BJP's Ram Madhav rules out Article 370's return, terms J&K's Gupkar alliance as 'facade'

Gupkar alliance

After the release of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti after 14 months of detention, mainstream Kashmiri politicians who had signed the Gupkar Declaration on August 4, 2019, met at NC chief Farooq Abdullah's residence and signed a new Gupkar alliance, pledging to bring back Article 370. 

The Gupkar Declaration was a resolution passed by NC, PDP, Congress, CPI(M), JKPC and ANC on August 4, 2019, pledging to protect the "identity, autonomy and special status" of J&K. Flanked by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and his son Omar, Abdullah announced the alliance's name has been changed to 'People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration'. 

On August 4, 2019, all mainstream political leaders like Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah, Sajid Lone were arrested or placed under house- arrest, communication links and internet were snapped, while the whole Valley was put under strict curfew. On August 5, Parliament revoked Article 370 & Article 35 A, bifurcating the state into two Union territories - Jammu- Kashmir & Ladakh. While full-speed 4G mobile internet is yet to be restored to the Valley, the Centre has changed the domicile law of J&K.

READ | SC Lawyer Files Complaint Against Mehbooba Mufti Over 'won't Raise Tricolour' Remark

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Published October 25th, 2020 at 12:21 IST

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