J&K Congress Delegation Meets Delimitation Commission For Statehood Restoration

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee met the Delimitation Commission(JKPCC) on Tuesday, July 6 and submitted a detailed memorandum concerning various issues relating to the restoration of political activity in the Union Territory. JKPCC President Ghulam Ahmad Mir, led a six-member party delegation and discussed a wide range of issues with the Commission. In its memorandum, Congress stressed that restoration of the Statehood for Jammu & Kashmir is essential for conducting the Delimitation process. It added that until the restoration of J&K's Statehood is completed, the delimitation process commencement will be considered unvailing.

Delimitation Exercise to Restore J&K

Political parties in Kashmir on Tuesday urged the visiting Delimitation Commission to allay apprehensions of the people over the exercise by conducting it in a free, fair and transparent manner. The commission led by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai arrived on Tuesday on a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to interact with leaders of political parties and officials to gather "first hand" inputs on the conduct of the mega exercise to carve out new constituencies in the Union Territory. Several parties, including the National Conference (NC), People's Conference (PC), Congress and the CPI(M), submitted separate memoranda to the visiting delegation. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and Awami National Conference (ANC) decided not to be part of the exercise with the PDP saying that there was a perception that the outcome of the process was pre-planned. In their representations, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress outlined their concerns and demands related to the exercise, and saying it be carried out only after Jammu and Kashmir is granted statehood again. The CPI(M) also submitted a memorandum that highlighted the constitutional aspects of delimitation and the legal challenge to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

J&K restoration controversies

The JKPCC further stated that the initiation of political & democratic dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir must begin with the restoration of civil liberties of political leaders, who have been 'unlawfully' detained by the authorities. The aspiration of the people of Ladakh to determine their democratic foundations within the four corners of the Indian constitution must be severely respected, the party told the commission further. Congress also raised apprehensions that the Commission’s final recommendations may give "unfair and undue advantage to a particular political party," thus putting the mainstream political parties in a disadvantageous position on account of 'unfairness'. "The Government must initiate an exercise for undoing the shackles on the democratic exercise of rights and end the incarceration of political leadership as a step towards strengthening of grassroots democracy in Jammu & Kashmir. Only then will the delimitation exercise shall have some meaning," the party said.