Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Sep 02
Ruling National Conference (NC) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged rival protests in Srinagar on Wednesday, with police stopping both groups from marching towards their intended targets.
The NC protested against the delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, while the BJP accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s government of failing to deliver on electoral promises relating to jobs, corruption, local elections and electricity tariffs.
The protests brought hundreds of workers from the two parties onto the streets and marked one of the most prominent instances of direct political mobilisation between the ruling party and the principal opposition since the constitutional changes of August 2019.
The NC had planned to march from the Gindun Sports Complex in Rajbagh to the BJP headquarters in Jawahar Nagar and stage a protest demanding restoration of statehood.
Senior NC leaders, including Health and Education Minister Sakina Itoo and lawmakers Tanvir Sadiq, Salman Sagar, Ahsan Pardesi, Shamima Firdous, Nazir Gurezi, Javid Baig, and Abdul Majeed Larmi, joined the demonstration.
Police erected barricades near the Rajbagh Police Station and stopped the march.
Some protesters were detained during a confrontation with security forces.
The NC accused authorities of preventing people from joining its protest and of mishandling some elected representatives.
“The NC’s peaceful protest was stopped from moving forward,” the party said on X, alleging that its demonstration had been restricted while the BJP’s protest outside the civil secretariat was allowed to proceed.
Tanvir Sadiq said the Centre had taken too long to fulfil its commitment on statehood.
“Where is statehood? It has been two years since the elections. The time has come to fulfil the promise made to us,” he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s adviser Nasir Aslam Wani said the government had waited for two years after the assembly elections for progress on the issue.
The NC also raised the issue of reservation rationalisation, saying it had implications for the region’s youth.
The BJP held its protest separately, beginning at Ghanta Ghar in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and marching towards the civil secretariat.
The demonstration was led by J&K BJP president and Rajya Sabha member Sat Sharma and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma.
BJP workers criticised the government over unemployment, alleged corruption and recruitment irregularities, the delay in local body and panchayat elections and a recent 6.83% electricity tariff increase.
The party also accused the government of failing to implement its promise of providing 200 units of free electricity and raised concerns over outsourcing of government jobs and alleged backdoor appointments.
Police stopped the BJP march near the Hari Singh High Street-Jahangir Chowk area. A small group of protesters reportedly reached the civil secretariat complex.
Sunil Sharma challenged Omar Abdullah to resign from his Ganderbal assembly seat and seek a fresh mandate on the issue of statehood.
“If you have any self-respect left, fight an election on statehood,” Sharma said.
He said the BJP also supported restoration of statehood but argued that the elected government should focus more on issues such as electricity, water, roads and unemployment.
Roads around Lal Chowk were closed to traffic and security forces deployed at several locations to prevent clashes between supporters of the rival parties.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti also criticised the handling of the demonstrations, alleging that authorities had applied different standards to political parties.
The confrontation extended to Jammu, where NC workers led by provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta attempted to march towards the BJP headquarters in Trikuta Nagar.
Police stopped the march and detained some protesters who tried to cross barricades.
