Major opposition parties and several social organizations in Jammu have announced a joint struggle against the recently released final report of the Delimitation Commission, constituted by Modi government, on Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
According to Kashmir Media Service, the announcement was made after a three-hour long meeting of the parties and several social organisations under the banner of All Parties United Morcha (APUM) in Jammu on Monday.
The APUM comprising Congress, National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Internationalist Democratic Party besides several social organisations like Mission Statehood and Desh Bhagat Yadgar Committee have already rejected the delimitation report as highly objectionable, biased and politically motivated. Pertinently, on May 5, this year, the delimitation panel notified its final report giving six additional assembly seats to the Hindu dominated Jammu region and only one to the Muslims majority Kashmir Valley and bringing areas of Rajouri and Poonch under the Anantnag [Islamabad] parliamentary seat. The Jammu division will now have 43 assembly seats and the Kashmir division 47 in the 90-member house.
The APUM meeting decided to jointly launch a struggle and a sustained campaign to oppose the delimitation report and aware the general public, starting from a joint sit-in this week in front of the election commission office in Jammu, read a statement issued after the meeting. Senior Congress leader Ravinder Sharma presided over the meeting which among others was attended by NC provincial president (Jammu) Rattan Lal Gupta, Sheikh Abdul Rehman, Ved Mahajan, PDP spokesperson Virinder Singh Sonu and CPI (M) leader Kishore Kumar. The meeting reiterated its demand for early restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before holding of assembly elections.
The participants said it was against geographical realities, norms of uniform population, compactness, contiguity, connectivity and public convenience and prepared at the behest of the ruling BJP. Criticising the final report, the leaders said the commission has totally ignored the ground realities and neglected the convenience and aspirations of the people of different areas.
The meeting also expressed concern over attempts being made to create communal polarisation and strongly condemned such actions of the communal forces encouraged by the BJP government. The statement said that it was decided to defeat the nefarious designs of such forces and maintain communal harmony.—INP
