PDP meeting to discuss fallout of abrogation of Article 370 not allowed

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 3

The authorities did not allow the first-ever meeting of the People’s Democratic Party post August 5 last year without assigning any reasons, according to a senior party functionary who had convened the meeting on Thursday morning to discuss the political situation as a consequence of abrogation of Article 370.

The PDP had sought permission for holding a meeting at its office in Srinagar, but without assigning any reason, the meeting was not allowed, according to PDP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura.

The meeting was scheduled for 11 am on Thursday.

Hanjura told The Tribune on phone that he was “not allowed to move out of his house”.

“When I informed them that I had asked for permission from the authorities for such a meeting, police told me that I could not move out as I was under house arrest,” Hanjura said.

About other senior colleagues of the party who were invited to the meeting, Hanjura said they too, were told not to step out of their houses. “They were informed that they would not be allowed to move out,” Hanjura said.

The PDP had notified on Tuesday that it would hold a meeting at its party headquarters in Srinagar to discuss the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 and subsequent measures. It was also supposed to discuss the prolonged detention of party chief Mehbooba Mufti who has been in detention under the Public Safety Act for over a year now.