Srinagar, Nov 08: Questioning the resolution passed by J&K Assembly on August 5, 2019 changes, Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Friday said the resolution should be at par with the intensity of wrongs committed against the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
In his maiden speech in J&K Assembly, Lone, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that the response of the House to August 5, 2019 should be as big as wrongs committed against the people of J&K.
“When we react to it (abrogation of Article 370) today as an assemblage or as embodiment of the will of people of J&K, it should be commensurate with the wrongs that have been perpetuated on the people of J&K,” he said.
He said the J&K’s current assembly is the nearest in terms of having the representative character to reject or accept the events of 5 August 2019.
“This is the first elected assemblage of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and it embodies the collective will of the people of J&K. What we do today would stay in history as a moral rejection or acceptance of August 5, 2019,” he said.
Lone said that they are not accusing the government of treachery or betrayal.
“If we say the response of this House is meek, we are not accusing you( government) of some treachery or some betrayal. It is human to make mistakes. We want that the response of the House should be as big as wrongs committed with the people of J&K,” he said, adding their idea behind bringing a fresh resolution is not aimed at scoring brownie points.
Pointing out that there is no mention of Article 370, Article 35A, as well as the absence of an explicit condemnation of the unilateral decisions of August 5, 2019, Lone called for a reinforcement of the recently passed resolution.
Talking about August 5, 2019 changes, Lone said the most empowered state in the Union of India was relegated to a Union Territory without the will of its people. He said a macro majoritarian decision was imposed on the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
“The erstwhile legislature and today’s legislature cannot be compared; we don’t even understand the extent of our powers or those of the cabinet. This Assembly is totally disempowered,” he said.
He said he has not given up on the restoration of Article 370.
“I believe Article 370 can be restored either in the Parliament or the Supreme Court. I have not given up on the Supreme Court. Whenever an out of box judiciary is in place, we can again approach the Supreme Court. I don’t know when. But a time will come when the resolution passed today would be a legal or a political reference point,” he said—(KNO)
