Mehbooba leads PDP candlelight march in Srinagar on Article 370 anniversary
People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday, August 4, led the party's candlelight march here ahead of the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Articles 370 and 35A were abrogated by the Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2019.
Scores of PDP leaders and workers assembled at the party headquarters near Sher-e-Kashmir Park here on Tuesday, August 4, evening and attempted to take out a candlelight march towards the city centre.
However, police stopped them, leading the PDP president and her party colleagues to hold a sit-in outside the party office.
Mehbooba held two flags in her hands, the Tricolour and the official flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Carrying placards, the PDP leaders and workers raised slogans calling for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.
Addressing her workers, Mehbooba termed the night of August 4 the "blackest night" for Jammu and Kashmir. "This night is the blackest night for J-K.
\A conspiracy was hatched on this night and Articles 370 and 35A were revoked from J-K. Article 370 was not given to us by Pakistan or China, but the constitution of this country," she said.
Mehbooba alleged that the BJP government had "robbed" Jammu and Kashmir's special status "the way they robbed Shri Ram's temple in Ayodhya."
"Article 370 was our protection, our dignity and identity; it protected our identity, land and jobs. The trampling of Ambedkar's Constitution started from Kashmir, and is now being done across the country," she said.
She asserted, however, that her party and the people of Jammu and Kashmir would "struggle for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and Article 370, and also for the release of prisoners." "If the government claims that the situation has improved, then the Army should be sent back to the barracks," she added.
She also sought the reopening of cross-LoC trade and routes.
(With PTI inputs)