Gupkar Alliance To Meet in Srinagar on Feb 26.

The Gupkar Alliance will meet in Srinagar on February 26 to discuss the ongoing situation in J&K, including the response to the draft proposal of the delimitation commission.

On Monday, the three MPs from National Conference – Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone, who are associate members of the commission had submitted an objection report with the commission in New Delhi, rejecting the draft proposal.

Now, to adopt a joint strategy, leaders of the five political parties that are part of the PAGD will meet next Saturday, said PAGD spokesman Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami. Besides two big regional parties, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), CPI(M), CPI and the Awami National Conference are part of the alliance.

PAGD leaders say that focus of the next meeting will be on the draft report and after the meeting, a policy statement of the alliance partners on the proposal will be issued.

On Sunday, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had said that the delimitation commission’s report is an attempt to divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir on sectarian and social grounds. “In the delimitation process, all have been put through trouble except BJP. If you don’t like any constituency, why not provide Rajouri-Poonch a separate constituency in 2024. If you don’t like Chenab Valley, give them a separate constituency in 2024,” she said, while briefing the media persons at her Gupkar residence.

“PDP will fight this. The J&K issue is political and they want to make it religious. J&K has been turned into a laboratory (to experiment). In the draft, areas have been joined haphazardly and the numbers are not matching,” she said.

NC in its objection report had said that Delimitation Commission’s second draft proposal was against the mandate of the commission as it had ignored historical aspects, population ratio of assembly segments, and geography.

Lok Sabha MP from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi blamed the commission for overlooking historical aspects, “Why was Habba Kadal removed? The segment was named after the famous Kashmiri queen-poetess. Amira Kadal was named after Amir Khan, an acclaimed architect and Batamaloo was named after Sufi saint. They have been called Srinagar 1 and 2 and 3. Even the ethic names of segments such as Shangus has been removed and named Anantnag West instead. In a way, they (the commission) has tried to convert this exercise into an assault on our culture,’’ said Masoodi after submitting the 15-page objection report on Monday evening.