New Delhi: Ahead of the six-year anniversary of the reading down of Article 370 that stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split it into two Union territories, the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir organised a special public meeting in Delhi to press for the restoration of its statehood – a longtime promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is yet to be fulfilled.The meeting, which was attended by leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, as well as members of parliament, saw questions being raised on the rationale behind reading down Article 370 citing militancy in the valley and pointed to the Pahalgam terror attack, lapses, the unfulfilled promise of statehood and the need to ensure that no other state in the country faces the same fate.“The meeting has been targeted to coincide with the monsoon session of parliament. Our appeal is that a resolution is brought to restore statehood and that parliamentarians speak to the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to initiate a discussion on restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” said former member of the group of interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir, Radha Kumar.On August 5, 2019, the Narendra Modi-led Union government read down Article 370, taking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and statehood, and splitting it into two Union Territories-Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. While the BJP government had promised to conduct delimitation, hold elections and restore statehood, the final promise is yet to be fulfilled. At the meeting a petition signed by 122 former civil servants including former union home secretary Gopal Pillai, deputy NSA Latha Reddy, and other public intellectuals, academics and activists was given to MPs to push for statehood.The meeting was attended by political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh including former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, J&K deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Choudhary, Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, CPI(M) MLA Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, Issey Namgyal (Leh Buddhist Association) and Sajjad Kargili (Kargil Democratic Alliance). Parliamentarians including Congress MPs Naseer Hussain, Manish Tewari, Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), and Raja Ram Singh (CPIML) as well as CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and CPI(M) politburo member Nilotpal Basu also attended the meeting.Is our fate surrendered?“Did we sign up for humiliation, slavery and helplessness? We signed up for a union where it will be a collective relationship. Every identity will be celebrated and not tolerated,” said Aga Ruhullah Mehdi.“Forget statehood, what is the defence mechanism for all of us when any political party with a wide imagination comes up with the idea to change the demographic identity of a particular state. Is our fate surrendered to a majority in parliament? There are many states which will never have a majority in parliament. What will such states do?” he added.Mehdi said that there is a need to “reimagine the functioning of democracy”, as the reading down of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 is part of a deeper problem.“We need to reimagine the functioning of this union. Article 370 is still operating in different ways in different states like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland or the aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu. The only crime by Jammu and Kashmir was that it was a majority Muslim state. While we speak of return of statehood, my fight is far beyond it is a need to protect the diversities of identity that we come from and therefore we need to reimagine the federal structure of India,” he said.‘Not here to beg or bow’Farooq Abdullah said that the leaders from Kashmir are not going to “beg or bow” but demand their rights under the constitution.“We are not here to beg or bow. It is our right as Indians by the constitution of India and what you have done is illegal. Restore it (statehood),” he said.Abdullah pointed out how the J&K assembly was not in session when statehood was stripped and state leaders – including then Governor Satyapal Malik – were not consulted.“While removing Article 370 they said Jammu and Kashmir was not progressing because of militancy. They talk about Indira Gandhi’s Emergency but that continued for 18 months. This has been going on for 11 years. I don’t want to beg, we want what is our right,” he said.‘Audience was Hindi heartland’Manoj Jha also said that the statehood “restoration is a democratic imperative and not grace”. Referring to the parliamentary debate during the reading down of Article 370, Jha said that while it was done for Kashmir, its audience was in the Hindi heartland “The problem is Delhi looks at Jammu and Kashmir as a land mass. There is more obsession with the land mass than the people, their history, their culture and traditions . Even in the best of the times, J&K was always looked at as an other- if not a demonised other for Delhi. The psychological makeup of Delhi is shaped by politics of north India and garnering votes from north India,” he said.“If you go through the parliament debates on August 5, 2019 – the audience was not in Kashmir it was in Bihar and UP – It was more about Hindi heartland going to the extent of 2020 Bihar elections.”‘Bengal or Seemanchal’CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya said that Kashmir is a template that can be followed in any part of India in the future.“Tomorrow if this template is brought to North Bengal or Bihar’s Seemanchal it won’t be surprising. This is not a question of Kashmir alone, it is about the whole of India,” he said.Surinder Choudhary said that while he has become deputy chief minister, he remains so by name only as his power remains limited.“Jammu and Kashmir has still not understood that under which law statehood was removed to make it a union territory,” he said.Pointing to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, in which 26 civilians – mostly tourists – were killed in Baisaran valley, Choudhary said that Article 370 was read down citing militancy. “The government has been in power for 11 years, how did Baisaran happen then? Why don’t you answer why there is no development, why there is still militancy? Why is there corruption?” he asked.Bhattacharya also said the LG Sinha’s recent admission in an interview that he takes responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack raises further questions.“You took the entire security mechanism in your hands, and yet Pahalgam happened. Just giving an interview to say I take responsibility, is not taking responsibility. The LG must be removed,” he said.‘On par with other states’The meeting came a day after the Congress held a protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the restoration of statehood and said that the issue will be taken up in both houses of parliament. Congress MP Naseer Hussain said at the meeting the INDIA alliance has built consensus to take it up in parliament.“The last special status was given under Article 371(J) for Hyderabad region in Karnataka. We should ask for statehood and special status on par with constitutional provisions given to other states,” he said.Former interlocutor Radha Kumar also said that while Article 370 had been read down in J&K, it still exists in the constitution and is in force in other states like Nagaland and Mizoram.“Bring a private members bill, move a motion, it will take nothing to repeal the Reorganisation Act. Article 370 is still in the constitution. It has been hollowed out but those elements and clauses of Article 370 can be re-empowered,” she said.