Kashmir Leaders met Pro-Indian Politicians at New Delhi

Kashmiri Leaders met Modi for the first time after two years since autonomy revoked in Kashmir

NEW DELHI, INDIA – Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi decided to host a meeting for the first time ever with the representatives of Jammu and Kashmir. The core motive of the meeting was to discuss the ongoing matters of the disputed region, Kashmir.

Modi along with the Himalayan region’s 14 political leaders, including Modi’s own party members attended the meeting. India’s powerful home minister, Amit Shah, and New Delhi’s administrator in the region, Manoj Sinha, also attended the meeting.

Among the Kashmir representatives were former three top elected officials: Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti. Mehbooba Mufti was a regional coalition partner of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for nearly two years after the 2016 state elections.

 Experts believe this meeting was only an act to push the ongoing criticism against the PM under the rug both at home and abroad. Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in August 2019 downgraded the Kashmir region’s status. The BJP Government dejected Article 370 and 35A from the constitution in Kashmir in 2019. This endorsed the split the disputed region into two federal territories Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir and removed inherited protections on land and jobs for the local population.

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Kashmiri representatives put forward the stance was for the Indian government to restore the illegal occupation they have upon the Kashmiri land. They also exclaimed that these immoral changes being implemented by the Indian government were not acceptable to either the Kashmiri locals or spokespersons.

They also advised Narendra Modi to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute in a meeting with Pakistan. However, though the meeting did progress to a finish, the alliance spokesman, Yousef Tarigami, after the meeting told the reporters that though the Indian government did hear their demands and opinions. Although they certainly made no promises to Kashmiri leaders.

Though, this matter has been lying in the UN while no decision being made. The land of unoccupied Kashmir has lived without an identity and has struggled since the beginning of Independence. It is about time they should be provided with a sense of security and ownership within the state they live in.