Will revive politics in J&K without fear, terror: PDP MLA Waheed Parra

Srinagar, Nov 19: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and MLA Pulwama Waheed Ur Rehman Parra on Tuesday said that the party will revive the politics in Jammu and Kashmir without any fear and terror.

Talking to media persons on the sidelines of a meeting held at party headquarters Parra said the recent Assembly session was held after a gap of six years as there was a lot of vacuum in J&K.

“Earlier it was the time of terror, no one talked about 370,” he said.

He said the present government also projected normalisation and built a narrative of statehood. “The present government is trying to build a narrative of statehood instead of talking about core issues like 370 and special status,” he said.

Parra said that there was a lot of contradiction in statements made by the National Conference (NC) and in their resolution as well.

“During our meeting today, we held deliberations on all the issues and we will try to keep Kashmir’s politics at the core of everything. Whether it is the assembly, the government, or day-to-day politics, the main discussion should be about Kashmir,” he said.

He said the party will raise issues about the situation here besides the issues of political prisoners, or about rationalising reservation, or about the cases against Kashmir’s youth.

“We will talk about the issues on which we fought the elections here. We will remind the govt of its promises they made during their election campaigns. Be it about providing one lakh jobs, or about providing free ration, we will keep reminding them, that the promises you made and for which you got the big mandate. We will remind them (NC) about the cases registered against the youth here,” Waheed Parra said.

He said the government should talk about these issues instead of hiding them. “The prisoners here are locked up in foreign jails and the government should work to bring them back home. They should talk about moving forward with the political process here,” he said.

He took a jibe at the NC led government saying that issues will not get resolved only through review meetings, administrative “photo-ops” or going to Delhi.

“The point is that the government should address the emotional issues of Kashmir which include Article 370, Article 35A and the demographic issues which we initiated in the recently held Assembly session as well,” the PDP leader said.

Earlier the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti chaired a meeting in which she supported the three elected MLAs- Rafiq Naik (MLA Tral), Mir Mohammad Fayaz (MLA Kupwara), and Waheed ur Rehman Para (MLA Pulwama) for their performance in the Assembly.

“We have decided that we will continue to work on similar issues in the future course,” Parra said.

Parra said that Article 370 was in the election Manifesto of the National Conference and they should talk about it without any hesitation.

“They should have talked about it in the Assembly,” he said.

He said the NC leadership talks about Article 370 on the streets, in the neighbourhood and even in the playfield but in Cabinet they came up with a resolution for statehood.

“We are not here to confront the government. What we are saying very clearly is that the promises they made in their manifestos, we will keep reminding them about it,” Waheed Parra said.

Earlier, party president Mehbooa Mufti congratulated the MLAs for their dedication and acknowledged their role in raising issues of critical importance to the people, particularly the revocation of Article 370 and 35A.

“These elections were not just about securing seats but about defending the identity and dignity of Jammu and Kashmir. Our MLAs have been instrumental in voicing the deep concerns of the people regarding the unilateral abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. Their efforts remind us of the urgent need to continue this fight within legislative forums and through public outreach,” she said.