SRINAGAR: As the Supreme Court upheld the Union Government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and President of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP), Mehbooba Mufti, said that the people of J&K are not going to lose hope or give up.
“Our fight for honour and dignity will continue regardless. This isn’t the end of the road for us,” she said. She continued, “We should not be disheartened. J&K has seen several ups and downs. SC’s verdict stating Article 370 was a temporary provision, is not our defeat, but the defeat of the idea of India.”
“I want to say this to the people of the country that many of you are celebrating this (verdict). Today, J&K was converted into a jail, and all the shopkeepers were directed that they would not open their shops before 10 am. We were under house arrest. This is a political war which has been going on for ages, and a lot of people have sacrificed their lives for this. We will not leave this, we have to come together and fight,” the PDP chief added.
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Weighing in on the SC ruling on Article 370, National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi said, “.The question of J&K being divided into two parts and downgraded from a state to a Union Territory (UT) has not been addressed. Our senior lawyers will review this judgment and see what we’ve to do.”
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also said he is “disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s judgment on the viability of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Consitution, however, he is “not disheartened. “It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul,” the former chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir wrote on X.