A day after announcing his candidature from the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, DPAP president and former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad said restoration of statehood to J&K is essential to extend other protections “such as 35A” to the people.
“While the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) have conceded they will give us statehood, however, the discussions around this suggest that it will resemble either Delhi or Puducherry. Every file and Cabinet decision will go through the Lieutenant Governor. That is unacceptable to us. Not just to me but I would say not to anyone in J&K,” Azad said, adding that the fight he started in Parliament after Article 370 was abrogated “has not reached its logical conclusion.”
On his decision to fight elections, Azad, who will be contesting his first polls as the head of DPAP, said, “I think there was a need for one more fight in the Lok Sabha. When J&K was stripped of statehood, Articles 370 and 35A in a hurry, in that state of despair, I sat in protest on the floor of the Parliament. My statement on that day is on the record.”
“We want the same state that has existed since ages… Before Assembly elections, I would use my position in Parliament, my voice and my influence to restore that statehood (to J&K),” Azad said. With that, he added, things connected to statehood “that have also been snatched away from us, such as 35A will also be restored.”
As long as Article 35A was in place, no one from outside J&K could not buy land or apply for jobs here, he said. “Our jobs are limited and if people from outside also start coming in, we will receive only a small piece of this. Our youth are lacking jobs in any case. For the sake of the lives of these young people and their families, we have to limit employment to the people of J&K,” he said.
“An immediate benefit of statehood would be that the state government can make laws in its Assembly to make such restrictions,” he said.
Azad said he is also keen to take up issues such as power generation in J&K. “Round the year, there used to be electricity. But unfortunately, over the last two years, there has been a dip in production. J&K needs thermal power projects in both Kashmir and Jammu. I had got this accepted for Jammu when I was the CM. However, it didn’t take off.”
Given a chance to represent J&K in Parliament, he said he would take up the issues of the Kashmiri Pandits. “The government controls their ration and allowances. Then there are concerns of Gujjar-Bakarwals in our state. There are many issues that need attention. I feel like I can be effective in addressing them instead of issuing statements.”