Political activities in the state were closed since the provisions of Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir were scrapped. Major leaders of other parties, including the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party, have been placed under house arrest. But political activities in the state are once again beginning to appear. Farooq Abdullah's National Conference (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) have held meetings in their respective party offices in Srinagar for the first time on Monday after the cancellation of Articles 370 and 35A.
According to information from sources, the senior leaders of both the parties had given instructions to the mid-level office bearers of the party. After getting instructions, meetings were called to resume normal political activities in the state. Official sources say that National Conference President Farooq Abdullah has been given a mobile phone to talk to his colleagues, party vice-president and son Omar Abdullah and others. At the same time, landline phone facility has been made available to PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti.
Provincial meetings were held once a month, said Shaukat Mir, the provincial secretary of the National Conference, but after 5 August all party activities abruptly stopped. Provincial President Nasir Wani was also among those detained. Mir said that more than 100 officials attended Monday's meeting.
In a statement released after the meeting, the National Conference has termed the prolonged detention of party president and Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah, as 'unconstitutional'. At the same time, PDP's state secretary Abdul Rahim Koshin said, "The party was hoping that Mehbooba would be able to attend this meeting which is being held after five months." He said, "Only senior leaders of the party have the right to take a decision. Is, but all under house arrest. We had asked for permission to hold a meeting with Mehbooba Mufti, but unfortunately we were not allowed.
According to Koshin, a party delegation will meet the Divisional Administration and seek permission to meet the party president. He said, "Our party's official stand on article 370 will come to light only after Mehbooba Mufti is left out." Koshin has opposed the administration's claims about development projects in Kashmir since the removal of article 370. He said that there has been no concrete development in the area since August.
