Sonia Gandhi, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mehbooba Mufti, Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP J&K Chief Among 52 Invitees
Srinagar, July 9 (KNC): The ruling National Conference (NC) has extended invitations to 52 prominent political and religious leaders from across the country and Jammu & Kashmir to participate in its proposed protest in support of the restoration of statehood to Jammu & Kashmir at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on July 20.
According to details available with the news agency Kashmir News Corner (KNC), invitation letters have been dispatched to leaders representing the INDIA alliance, several national political parties, regional parties, and influential religious figures, seeking their participation in what the party describes as a significant demonstration demanding the restoration of J&K’s statehood.
Among the senior national leaders invited are Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party; Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge; Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi; DMK President M.K. Stalin; Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee; Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav; Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav; Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar; Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray; and Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
The National Conference has also invited AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi and Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal to join the protest programme.
From Jammu & Kashmir, invitations have been sent to Democratic Progressive Azad Party Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad, Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti, J&K BJP President Sat Paul Sharma, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference President Sajad Gani Lone, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee President Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, and Awami Ittehad Party founder and chief Abdul Rashid Sheikh.
The list of invitees also includes prominent religious leaders, including Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq and the Grand Mufti of Jammu & Kashmir, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam.
The July 20 demonstration at Jantar Mantar is expected to bring together political parties and civil society representatives to collectively press for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir, a demand that has been consistently raised by the National Conference and several other political groups since the reorganisation of the erstwhile state in August 2019. (KNC)
