Ahead of meet on Kashmir, 48-hour high alert issued in UT; internet services likely to be suspended
SRINAGAR, June 23, 2021: An alert has been sounded in Jammu and Kashmir for the next 48 hours ahead of the all-party meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the political leaders of the Union Territory on June 24 (Thursday).
A Dainik Jagran report said that internet services in the union territory may also be suspended when the meeting is held on Thursday.
According to reports, a similar an order has been issued by the administration for the areas adjoining the Line of Control (LoC).
PM Modi will chair an all-party meeting of political leaders of the Valley and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah-led People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) has agreed to participate in the meeting.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami as well as leaders of constituent parties including former CMs Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah are most likely to attend the meeting.
Even senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has been invited to attend the meeting. Other regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir will also participate in the meeting.
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a grouping of five regional political parties, will participate in the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister. The PAGD, or ‘Gupkar Alliance’, consists of the National Conference (NC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Communist Party of India-Marxists (CPI-M), the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) and the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM). and Kashmir Awami National Conference (JKANC).
14 leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers of the erstwhile state – Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mehbooba Mufti – have been invited.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president Ravinder Raina, two senior party leaders – former deputy chief ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta will also attend the scheduled meeting.
The meeting is being seen as the first important step by the Center with an aim to restart the political process in Jammu and Kashmir and hold assembly elections. Jammu and Kashmir has been under central rule since June 2018 when the BJP-PDP coalition government fell.
The Prime Minister is expected to urge the leaders in the meeting to cooperate with the Delimitation Commission and take the electoral process forward. (PTK)
