Jammu: Days after attending the all-party meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) has sought restoration of statehood before assembly elections. It has also expressed dissatisfaction over the outcome of the Delhi meeting, saying the Centre has failed to take any Confidence Building Measures(CBMs). The first meeting of the alliance after the Delhi meeting was held late Sunday evening at the residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the alliance. The meeting was attended by vice-chairpersonMehbooba Mufti, spokesperson Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, MP HasnainMasoodi, Javed Mustafa Mir and Muzaffar Ahmed Shah. In a statement, Tarigami said, “All the members of the PAGD expressed their disappointment at the outcome of the Delhi meeting, especially with the lack in CBMs, such as releasing political and other prisoners from jails and taking steps to end the atmosphere of suppression. This would have initiated the much-needed process of reaching out to the people of J&K who are the biggest stakeholders.” He said the BJP made the commitment on the floor of Parliament regarding statehood for J&K and they must honour it.“Any assembly election must be held only after the restoration of full statehood for J&K. To this end, the PAGD has decided to reach out to other political parties in J&K with a view to take a common position on the issue,” he said.

The PAGD’s stand on the restoration of statehood gains significance as the Delimitation Commission, whose main task is redrawing the boundaries of the various assembly and LokSabha constituencies, will be in the Union Territory on a three-day visit beginning July 7. However, the alliance hasn’t yet made it clear if they will be meeting the Commission. Three Members of Parliament from the region, Farooq Abdullah, HasnainMasoodi and Akbar Lone, are members of the Commission along with two BJP MPs from Jammu.