Senior Congress leader Saif-ud-Din Soz on Tuesday asked the political parties to stand committed to the “movement” for restoration of J&K’s special status.
“The confused thinking on our achievable goal can distract us further. We want restoration of special status. Restoration of statehood is necessary, but, the predominant importance goes to restoration of our special status,” said Soz, in a statement. “The political class and the intellectuals of the entire state must stand committed before the people of Kashmir and reiterate that the present day movement in Kashmir is for restoration of our special status which happened to be enshrined in Article 370 of Constitution. The Article was arbitrarily abrogated by the Centre. Our struggle for restoration of our special status should not get confused with anything else.”
He said as for the statehood, the Union Home Minister had made a commitment on the floor of the Parliament that its withdrawal was temporary. “So, the position is clear that people of Kashmir want restoration of the special status,” Soz said.
He asked people to remain alert on “issues because some people are deliberately creating confusion.” “The restoration of the statehood is necessary, but the predominant importance goes to restoration of the special status,” Soz reiterated.