KINS Desk
Srinagar, July 22 (KINS): Intensifying its campaign for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress party on Tuesday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, with several senior leaders from the national and J&K units joining the demonstration.
The protest was led by J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hameed Karra, with Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, AICC J&K in-charge Naseer Hussain, and other senior leaders in attendance. The demonstration was part of the party’s ongoing ‘Delhi Chalo’ campaign, launched to press for the immediate restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s lost statehood.
Addressing the congress workers, Tariq Hameed Karra as per news agency KINS, hailed the dedication of Congress workers from J&K who, he said, “have walked hundreds of kilometres over the last six months, carrying the message of our campaign ‘Hamari Riyasat, Hamara Haq’ to every village across the Union Territory.” He called them an inspiration and reiterated that the demand for statehood is rooted in the aspirations and rights of the people.
Congress General Secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir strongly criticized the Centre, stating that it was from the very Parliament of India that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and democratic rights were unjustly taken away.
“We’ve returned to this same Parliament not to plead, but to demand that the government fulfill the promises it made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Mir added, “There’s a dual power structure in J&K, and it’s the ordinary citizens who are suffering due to this imbalance.”
He reiterated that the Congress party’s fight is for justice, equality, and the rightful restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
K.C. Venugopal, in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), condemned what he called “democratic backsliding” in Jammu and Kashmir. “This is the first time in India’s history that a state has been downgraded to a Union Territory. Such a move is an insult to the people and a setback for democracy,” he said.
“I joined the protest to support the demand for restoring the dignity of the people of J&K and to defend the Constitution. The promises made in Parliament must be fulfilled without delay,” Venugopal added.
The protest in Delhi comes after similar demonstrations in Srinagar on July 19 and Jammu on July 20, where party leaders raised the same demand and faced police resistance, including temporary detentions.
The movement has been fueled by a joint letter sent earlier this month by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the restoration of full statehood.
In the letter, Kharge and Gandhi asserted that for the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have continuously voiced their desire for the return of full statehood — a demand that is “legitimate and constitutionally justified.”
The Congress has vowed to continue its agitation until the constitutional rights and democratic dignity of Jammu and Kashmir’s people are fully restored.(KINS)
