Will join NC protest if Article 370 restoration, lifting ban on Jamaat added to agenda: PDP
The PDP has refused to join a National Conference-led protest for Jammu and Kashmir statehood unless the agenda includes the restoration of Article 370 and the release of political prisoners. Mehbooba Mufti argued that demanding only statehood would legitimize the revocation of the region's special status.
Why it matters
This reflects deep political divisions within the Kashmiri opposition regarding the strategy for regaining political autonomy.
Laying down its condition to join the protest scheduled by the National Conference in Delhi on Monday (July 20, 2026) seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday (July 18, 2026) said restoration of Article 370, release of political prisoners and lifting the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami should also be included in the agenda.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said that after discussing the issue, the party does not seem it fit to join the protest exclusively for the demand of statehood.
"After careful consideration and deliberations with my senior colleagues, I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fit for us to participate in a protest whose raison d'etre is solely and exclusively the demand for statehood," she said.
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