PC, JDF, PDF band together, say will strive for change in Kashmir

Hindustan Times

16 hours ago

In an interesting political development in Kashmir, a new political amalgam — People's Alliance for Change (PAC) —which aims to provide an alternative against the 'elite political ruling minority' while also fighting for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood, was announced on Monday. JKPC chief Sajad Lone along with PDF president Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, Jamaat-e-Islami-backed JDF's chief Shamim Ahmad Thokar during a press conference in Srinagar on Monday. (PTI)
The alliance was announced by People's Conference(PC) led by Sajad Lone, Jamaat-e-Islami affiliated Justice and Development Front (JDF), which fought recent assembly elections, and People's Democratic Front (PDF) led by Hakeem Yaseen.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sajad Lone said that the decision to form the alliance came after months of consultations. 'The alliance is a platform which will work for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This platform is the one in which everybody has suffered - pain and sorrow. We have not inflicted pain. And this platform will bring change in the barren political landscape,' he said.
He said that they are providing people an alternative against those who inflicted the pain here. 'The people suffered in these 30 years, went to jails, many are in graveyards while many suffered interrogations. While the other group who are at the forefront in inflicting these sufferings. And it is also a fact that by and large only these people have been our rulers here,' he said.
'PAC is an alliance of those who have suffered. How would Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah know what is victimhood? They only know how to inflict oppression. This is a people's alliance for change. It is not a third front and everyone can join us,' Lone said.
In the recent elections, all the three parties were not able to score anything major except a single seat of Handwara in north Kashmir which was won by Sajad Lone. However, together there are chances of it becoming a formidable group which can be problematic for the traditional parties in the political arithmetic of Kashmir.
PC won the Sajad Lone's Handwara seat in 2024 assembly elections while also lost four seats by narrow margins in north Kashmir. Lone has been previously a separatist leader who joined mainstream politics when he fought parliamentary elections in 2009.
Justice and Development Front (JDF) was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) affiliated candidates early this year after the central government imposed a five-year ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019, citing the outfit's alleged ties with militant groups. Last year, some 10 such candidates participated in the elections as Independents, including the prominent Sayyar Ahmad Reshi and Talat Majid in south Kashmir with no success on any seat, though Reshi managed to gather a formidable vote percentage in south Kashmir.
People's Democratic Front (PDF) led by Hakeem Yaseen has a good following in Khansahib area of central Kashmir, though he lost the elections in 2024 after being its MLA for three consecutive terms. JDF president Shamim Ahmad Thokar said that they formed the alliance knowing well that individually they won't be able to bring any change. 'We understood that we can't do much individually. If we want to do something for our people and bring change then we would have to move ahead together. Ideological differences apart, we need a joint platform for working ahead,' he said.
He said that Sajad Lone and them had a historical connection. 'Sajad sb's father and our elder leaders held mutual interests. And now we want to work together,' he said.
Thokar said that the alternative will attempt for stability in this region which has been 'elusive for the past few decades'.
'Now youth are not comfortable with double speak of leaders. Now the talk in Srinagar and in Delhi will be the same. Only that government will move ahead which indulges in one talk- both in Srinagar and Delhi. We endeavour for political stability and we will strive for that,' he said.
In a joint statement, the alliance said that it believes in the 'Restoration of Article 370, Article 35 A and statehood'.
'The alliance will strive and exhaust all political means in pursuit of these objectives,' the PAC said.
The amalgam was also aghast over new reservation rules in J&K. 'We believe that one of the biggest tools of disempowerment of the Kashmiris that has emerged, is the system of reservations in J&K. The present system of reservations is a regional issue and systematically discriminates against the people of Kashmir,' it said.
'Upto 90% of jobs go to the Jammu region. Till now the only party to call it a regional issue has been the JKPC. The JDF joins JKPC in calling it a regional issue. This is a wake-up call for the people,' it said.