As Jammu and Kashmir completes three years without constitutional special status post August 5, 2019, former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti sees the Kashmir problem slipping into more complicated realities, with the situation getting grimmer and its solution far from sight.
Looking back at August 5, 2019, what does the day signify for a party that demanded greater autonomy and proposed a ‘Self Rule’ formula as a final solution?
Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed more powers than any other State of the country. Our Assembly was powerful. We had a Constitution. By all means, we were sharing our sovereignty. With a stroke of a pen, not only our Constitution and the flag were scrapped unconstitutionally but they also subverted the Indian Constitution, which was a guarantor of our special status. It was total betrayal. August 5 will be remembered as the darkest period of Jammu and Kashmir as well as India. Our ‘Self Rule’ proposal still is the most relevant and implementable solution to the Kashmir issue, without undermining the sovereignty of either countries whether Pakistan or India.
