With five days to go for the Supreme Court hearing on Article 35A, protests are gaining ground in the Kashmir Valley with the separatists rolling out a five-day protest programme.
Supporting the protest call, Kashmir Traders’-Manufacturers’ Federation and Kashmir Economic Alliance president Muhammad Yaseen Khan said, “We are ready to face bullets in order to protect the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. It will be an all out war if the Centre scraps Article 35A. It is a matter of life and death for us.”
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who chaired a meeting in Srinagar, described any attempt to revoke Article 35A as “ploy to change the demographic character of J&K.”
Special prayers
“It will have a direct bearing on the struggle for right to self-determination guaranteed by India at the United Nations and ratified by the world body,” said the Mirwaiz. The Mirwaiz, who is holding “special prayers” at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar on Friday, warned that “in case of any order against on Article 35A, all of us, irrespective of age and religion, will be out on the streets.”
