Several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court’s verdict upholding Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 on Monday, with National Conference’s (NC) Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti pledging to “continue with their political struggle” to restore the pre-August 5, 2019 position.
Mr. Abdullah posted a video on ‘X’ after the gates of his house “were chained by the authorities” in Srinagar. “We respect the verdict though we were not expecting such a verdict. We were expecting justice. However, our struggle, which is political and constitutional, will continue. It took the BJP 70 years to do away with Article 370 in spite of previous court judgments referring to Article 370 as permanent. We hope a day will come when our dignity and all that was snatched on August 5, 2019 will be restored. It’s a long struggle though,” Mr. Abdullah said.
Quoting a couplet from revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Mr. Abdullah said, “We put in our best efforts and failed to convince the SC Bench. I am sad about it. We apologise to the people of J&K, Ladakh, and the country that expected us to win. Our efforts will not stop here.” He praised people for maintaining peace in J&K.
