Srinagar: Joint Resistance leadership (JRL) on Monday warned of a peoples’ agitation in Kashmir if Government of India tries to change the demography of the state by repealing Article 35 (A) that bars outsiders from buying land here.
In a statement, JRL said that this is a very serious issue with serious ramifications. “If any effort is made in this direction, JRL will have to ask people to launch a vigorous agitation against this major ploy to change the basic character of the states special status, the consequences of which will be entirely on the ruling regime,” said the JRL.
They said that the Kashmir dispute is an internationally acknowledged conflict for which people of Kashmir have given tremendous sacrifices for the past seven decades.
“…every effort to undermine that fact by such ploys is unacceptable to the people of Kashmir who will oppose it tooth and nail.”
JRL comprising Syed Ali Geelani , Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik said that the people of Kashmir are under assault from all sides.
They said that the fiscal autonomy of the state has been compromised after the passage of GST law.
JRL said that the persecution of leadership is being done through fabricated cases by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) while killing and use of pellets against protesters also continues.
They said that hectic efforts are now on to do away with the special status altogether by challenging Article 35A in the Indian Supreme Court.
“As this article bars non-J&K state subjects to settle and buy property in J&K, the article is being challenged in court with the view to alter the demography of the state by settling people from outside the state, with the right to acquire land and property, and vote in the Assembly elections . It is being promoted as part of the “final solution” to the Kashmir issue by the Indian state led by the RSS,” said the JRL.
Instead of these tactics, JRL said that the government of India should work towards the resolution of the dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and for a peaceful subcontinent.
