The People's Conference on Thursday said August 5 will be remembered as a “dark day” and a “day of disempowerment” in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
It said the day is a reminder of the humiliation that the people of J&K were subjected to three years ago, referring to the revocation of the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 and its bifurcation into union territories by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
"August 5 will perpetually be remembered as a dark day and a day of disempowerment in the history of J&K,” the People's Conference (PC) said in a statement issued on the eve of the third anniversary of the nullification of Article 370.
The party said the National Conference-PDP alliance and the BJP government at the Centre have miserably failed to keep their commitments after the revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state.
"While the former has endorsed further decline by their deceptive conduct in the political identity of J&K, the latter is continuing to disempower masses of the erstwhile state of J&K," it alleged.
"Though as an eyewash, senior leaders of the government had assured the nation on the floor of the House that our rights will be restored to heal the wounds inflicted on the people of J&K," the party said.
However, three years have passed but they have failed to even give the rights to the state to have a representative government, it said.
"While the citizens of this country outside J&K enjoy the basic right of electing their own representatives, it is a pity that the people of J&K have been denied this very basic right in a functioning democracy," it added.