‘Need to Script a New Social Contract Between Delhi and J&K’: People's Conference Ahead of PM Meet

A meeting of party leaders of the People’s Conference was called upon on Monday by its chairman Sajad Gani Lone to discuss matters pertaining to the all Party meeting called by PM Modi on June 24.

During the meeting which was attended by senior leaders like Basharat Bukhari, Mansoor Hussain Soharwardy, Adv Bashir Ahmad Dar, Rashid Mehmood etc, the leaders appreciated Prime Minister’s initiative and hoped that this engagement would evolve into something much bigger and facilitate return to democracy and empowerment of the people of J&K.

Besides, the leaders also discussed the overall political scenario and ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir. They emphasized the need for the political class to play a constructive role and finding a durable and democratic solution to all the challenges facing the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The participants insisted that the chairman of the party should convey unequivocally the pain and suffering of the people of J&K and hoped that the engagement will be positive, decisive and result oriented.” said spokesperson Adnan Ashraf Mir in a statement on behalf of People’s Conference.

The leaders also unanimously emphasized the dire need for scripting a new social contract between Delhi and the people of J&K to address the aspirations of the people of J&K.

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The meeting on June 24 which is being seen as a bid to move the political process in the Union Territory, will be held to discuss restoring Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s statehood, a significant milestone that India’s top leadership has set its eyes on after months of strategising by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, CNN-News18 learnt from official sources.

The meeting, the first such exercise since the Centre announced the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into union territories in August 2019 is likely to be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders. In all, the Centre plans to invite 16 political leaders from the UT to the meeting, sources said.

A senior government functionary told News18 that PM Modi and HM Shah will give the leaders an opportunity to air their concerns too. “It is a meeting to share with them the plans for Jammu and Kashmir’s future. The home minister has repeatedly assured that statehood will be returned to J&K. He is leading the preparations for this meet,” the functionary said.

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