Jammu: The Indian national Congress and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marked the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 as a “black day” with separate protest rallies in Jammu city, demanding the restoration of statehood and special status for Jammu and Kashmir, with Police preventing them from advancing towards the national highway, leading to a brief sit-in.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and other regional leaders reported being placed under house arrest amid increased security on the abrogation anniversary.
Congress leader Vikar Rasool Wani condemned the BJP-led government for failing to control the increase in militant attacks since the abrogation and the state's reorganization into two ‘union territories.’
Wani, dressed in black, led Congress workers in a rally, chanting anti-BJP slogans and calling for statehood restoration. The protestors, halted by police, staged a sit-in, with Wani describing August 5 as the darkest day in Jammu and Kashmir's history.
He accused the BJP of implementing a "draconian measure" and criticized the government’s failure to curb violence and unemployment.
“It is a day when our prosperous, happy state was downgraded into a union territory, its historic statehood and special status snatched, and bifurcated into two UTs. We are marking it as a black day, wearing black clothes and badges to protest against this injustice,” he told reporters during the protest.
Congress leader Wani further criticized Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s promise that Article 370’s abrogation would end militancy, noting the rise in violence and the high rate of unemployment in the region. He accused the BJP of fostering drug addiction and awarding contracts to outsiders, and called for the immediate restoration of statehood.
“There has been a significant increase in violence. Fifty soldiers have been martyred in the last three years in the Jammu region. The attacks are increasing,” he said.
The PDP also held a protest in Gandhinagar, led by general secretary Amrik Singh and spokesperson Virender Singh. PDP workers, wearing black badges, voiced their discontent with the BJP and called for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
PDP leader Vijender Singh echoed calls for the restoration of special status, accusing the BJP of destroying the state.
The Modi government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated it into the ‘union territories’ of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, formalized by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act effective from October 31, 2019.