On their website, the regional political parties have maintained a complete silence on the developments which altered J&K political landscape since August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated Article 370.
While in case of some parties the occasional updates are related to individual statements by some party leaders and condolences offered on demise of some person(s), the website of one party is defunct for the past more than a year.
On their part, the parties have defended the long maintained silence, saying J&K has been witnessing an “internet siege for a long time”. At the same time these parties are active on different social media platforms.
Of PDP’s Self-Rule poll and condolences
On the main page of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) website, three of four ‘latest news updates’ are about condolences offered by the party leaders on the demise of different persons.
The fourth “latest news” is about the greetings extended by the party to people of Jammu and Kashmir on eve of a festival.
Under a sub-head “Public Opinion”, the party has asked “Is Self Rule a way forward to resolution of Jammu and Kashmir.” It has got 197 votes with 63 percent participants (124 votes) polling against the idea while 34 percent (67 votes) supporting the Self Rule. Another three percent people have preferred “not concerned” option.
A PDP leader said the “opinion poll” was initiated long time ago”, prior to August 5, when the Centre altered the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir.
Since long, the PDP has been advocating Self Rule as the “only viable” solution to Kashmir issues. On the website, it describes the Self Rule as an “act of hope…to forge a consensus on the way forward (on Kashmir issue.)”
The highlights of the website are the detailed profile of the party founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and the PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, who continues to be in detention under Public Safety Act (PSA).
Though over the months several second-rung party leaders have expressed their opinion on decisions taken by the Centre vis-à-vis J&K since August 5, none of those statements has made it to the website.
A majority of the news reports updated on the website are related to the developments which took place prior to August last year.
In one section, the party has explained the Self Rule, its importance and the need for making J&K, which was bifurcated into two Union Territories on August 5, into a “free economic zone.” On the ground, the PDP has maintained silence on its political stand for a long time now.
PDP spokesperson, Suhail Bukhari said the communications updated on the website were largely issued by the party leadership. “Since the PDP leaders were under detention for a long time, and the party President is still in jail under the PSA, there is no way to communicate and update the website,” Bukhari said.
He said the website updating was also “a matter of accessibility to the internet which we have been deprived of for ages now.”
“We are trying to show our presence through whatever little means we can,” Bukhari said.
He, however, said the party was “actively” sharing its views and opinion on a range of issues on social media platforms including the twitter.
NC’s ‘under maintenance’ website
The existing website of the National Conference is not accessible. “We are upgrading to our new website and will be back shortly,” a message pops up on the website.
A message on the new party website, jknc.info, reads, “website under maintenance.”
The only information available on this website is about the details of a case against the party chief Farooq Abdullah. This information has been updated more than a year ago.
According to an NC leader, the party President along with two other party members who had participated in 2019 Lok Sabha, were “required to provide all information about themselves on the website.”
Like the PDP, the National Conference too has been silent on its website on the series of developments which took place in J&K since August.
Though the party MPs including Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone have on several occasions spoken against the August 5 move and a number of decisions taken by the government of India August 5 onwards, none of their statements has made it to the website.
A few days ago National Conference President Farooq Abdullah broke the silence after his release some months ago and demanded restoration of autonomy to J&K in a joint statement issued with other party leaders. But this statement too is missing on the website.
Party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the National Conference has a large presence on social media including the twitter and it has been sharing opinion and the party stand on all issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir regularly on different platforms.
“We are reaching out to people and sharing our opinion on the issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir and overall politics in the country on the social media,” said Imran, adding people as well as political parties were these days more active on social media platforms.
Asked about the defunct party website, he said they were in the process of launching the new website. “There was some issue with the developer that led to the delay. Also, because of the lockdown since August last year, the process got delayed,” Imran said.
PC’s party history and ‘vision’
The Peoples Conference’s website opens to a slogan “Welcome to the Caravan of Change”. It talks about “our vision”, “our campaign” and “our mission”.
Then, there is a brief history of the party since 1978, the year it was founded, to 2004 when Sajad Lone took over as the Chairman of the party, to his foray into Assembly elections in 2014 and the party’s participation in Municipal Elections in 2018.
In the “recent issues” section, the latest news has been updated on 26 March 2019 about the party’s participation in Lok Sabha elections. There is also mention of “new party logo and colour theme.”
But like other two regional parties, the People’s Conference too has maintained silence on the decisions taken by New Delhi since August 5, vis-à-vis Kashmir.
The party spokesperson Adna Ashraf said the “entire system” had become defunct owing to the internet and communication blockade.
“We haven’t updated anything on the website. The structure isn’t back in place. We had our employees and people working to maintain the website. With the internet being the casualty and since our leader is under arrest, we have had no political activity except for small statements,” said Ashraf.
He said there was a lull in (Kashmir) politics and it “shows on our website.” “But we are very active on social media,” he said.