What is the Modi government now preparing to do in Jammu and Kashmir?

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Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha

Discussions about Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir are once again intensifying.

After the abolition of special status on August 5, 2019 and bifurcation into two union territories, it is now being speculated that the Modi government at the Center is going to start preparations for holding assembly elections in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

This is being estimated by quoting many media reports. On Friday, news agency PTI also tweeted about it quoting an official.

PTI wrote, “Before the end of June, the Central Government is seeking discussions with all the regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir to take the political process forward. This includes the assembly elections in the Union Territory.”

At the same time, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti from the English newspaper The Indian Express has confirmed on Friday stating that she has received a call from the ‘top leadership’ in New Delhi to attend a meeting on June 24.

However, he said that he does not know whether all mainstream parties have been invited to the meeting.

The BBC’s associate journalist Majid Jehangir has told that Mehbooba Mufti has also confirmed the invitation to meet with local newspapers, while the spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party has also said that she will get an invitation to meet.

Why the discussion is Intensified?

After the elections to the District Development Council (DDC) in Jammu and Kashmir, it was expected that the preparations for the assembly elections would also start soon, but there were doubts about how long it would take.

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But now after the news of the meeting came out, it is believed that the central government wants to discuss with the parties first to discuss the delimitation of seats for the assembly elections etc.

Majid Jehangir from Srinagar told that this is a way to break the political silence in Jammu and Kashmir and at the same time it will send a message internationally that things are normal in Kashmir.

He says that the central government wants to start these processes by taking local leaders along because without them the restoration of political processes is not possible.

After the Gupkar alliance meeting last week, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah had said that he was ready for talks with the Centre.

He said that he has not closed any door or option, if he invites then then the decision will be taken at that time.

Home Minister Meeting

On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting regarding several development projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

During this, he said that the development and welfare of all the people of the Union Territory is the top priority of the Modi government.

Apart from Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, NSA Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, IB Director Arvind Kumar, Raw Chief Samant Kumar Goel, CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh and Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh were also present in this meeting.

It is being speculated from this that this was not a general meeting on Kashmir. The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan was also anticipating that the Indian government was going to do something new in Kashmir.

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On August 5, 2019, several leaders, including three former chief ministers, were placed under house arrest after the state’s special status Article 370 was abolished. Gradually these former chief ministers were released.

After this, seven major parties of Jammu and Kashmir formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD). Its main objective is to restore the special status of the state.

India can do something again in Kashmir: Pakistan

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while informing the United Nations, had expressed serious concern that India may again do something new in Kashmir.

A statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said, “India may again take illegal and one-sided steps in Kashmir. Something can be done to re-divide and change the demographics there.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister wrote a letter addressed to the President of the United Nations Security Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In his letter, Qureshi wrote that India is doing something for the last 22 months to suppress Kashmiris. Human rights are being violated openly in Kashmir.

However, India has always been saying that Kashmir is its internal matter and Pakistan has no right to speak on it.

Qureshi had said that India was undermining the right of self-determination of Kashmiris. The Pakistani Foreign Minister had said that this right was being undermined by changes in its demographics. Qureshi had said that people from outside Kashmir were being given fake residence certificates. Qureshi had said, “All kinds of illegal and one-sided steps are being taken in Kashmir since 1951. These include the decision of August 5, 2019, under which the constitutional status of Kashmir was changed.

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If India makes any further unilateral changes in Kashmir in the future, it will be in violation of international rules, including Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Qureshi had said that the Security Council should take the initiative to implement its resolutions. The Pakistani Foreign Minister had said that he wants peaceful relations with his neighbors and India is also included in these neighbors. Qureshi had said that the Kashmir dispute can be resolved only under UN Security Council resolutions.

He had said that the resolution of the Kashmir problem is very important for peace and stability in South Asia. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations has conveyed Qureshi’s letter to the UN Secretary General and the President of the Security Council.

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