Srinagar, Aug 9,: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress party on Saturday launched an 11-day hunger strike in Srinagar to press for the restoration of full statehood to the Union Territory. The protest is being led by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Tariq Karra.
Scores of Congress leaders and workers assembled at the party headquarters, where banners reading ‘Hamari Riyasat, Hamara Haq’ were displayed. Participants said the agitation would continue for eleven days as part of a sustained campaign to seek the reversal of the constitutional changes made in August 2019.
Tariq Hameed Karra said that the Congress has been consistently demanding the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. He added that it is our legitimate right and nobody can deprive us of this right.
Recently, the party staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where senior leaders, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, vowed to raise the issue in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.
Speaking at the launch of the hunger strike, Tariq Karra said that depriving Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood was an injustice to its people. He reiterated that Congress would continue its struggle until full statehood is restored.
The hunger strike in Srinagar marks the latest in a series of political activities by the Congress aimed at building public and political pressure on the central government over the statehood issue. [KNT]
