Srinagar : In a first, Pakistan has endorsed the
Gupkar Declaration, a joint statement of various mainstream
political parties of Kashmir seeking a rollback of August 5,
2019 decision of abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of
erstwhile State into two federally ruled union territories –
Ladakh and J&K. You
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Monday
said that there has been a rise in political resistance
movement in Jammu and Kashmir as the Kashmiri people
struggle for their “inalienable right to self-determination”.
According to news agency Kashmir Dot Com – (KDC) speaking
at a press conference on Monday, Qureshi said the political
parties in India administered Kashmir rejected India’s August
5 move to annex the “disputed territory and forged an
alliance” to wage a joint struggle aimed at reviving the old
status of the territory.
He said, “This is not an ordinary occurrence but an important
development as the joint statement issued by the political
parties hold the signatures of Farooq Abdullah and enjoy the
support of the Congress party which is the main opposition
party in India."
The foreign minister highlighted that Pakistan premier Imran
Khan raised the Kashmir issue at every global forum, drawing
the attention of the world leaders over the sensitive matter.
The economy of Kashmir is completely ruined. However,
thousands of innocent Kashmiris are in captivity since 2019,”
Qureshi said according to news agency Kashmir Dot Com-
(KDC).
Regarding relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he
said the Kingdom has not asked for a loan repayment nor has
it cut our oil supply. He remarked, “We won’t be pressured
into accepting Isreal.”
All the pro-India political parties including Congress in J&K
demanded rollback of August 5, 2019 decision which led to
abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile State
of J&K into two union territories – Ladakh and JK.
According to news agency Kashmir Dot Com- (KDC) the
demand was raised in a joint statement issued by National
Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Indian
National Congress, Peoples Conference (PC), CPI (Marxist),
and Awami National Conference (ANC).
“We are committed to strive for the restoration of Articles
370 and 35A, the constitution of J&K and the restoration of
the State and any division of the State are unacceptable to us.
We unanimously reiterate that there can be “nothing about us
without us,” reads the joint statement, which was signed by
Farooq Abdullah of NC, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, Ghulam
Ahmad Mir of Congress, Sajad Lone of PC, M Y Tarigami of
CPI (M), and Muzaffar Shah of ANC.
All these five political parties were the signatories of Gupkar
Declaration of August 4, 2019, which unanimously resolved
that “all the parties would be united in their resolve to
protect and defend identity, autonomy and the special status of
the J&K against all attacks and onslaughts whatsoever.”
The meeting was convened at Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah’s
residence on Gupkar Road, which is how the name of the
document came to be known. (KDC)
