SRINAGAR: Srinagar’s Tagore Hall reverberated with chants of ‘Lal Salam’ on Wednesday as CPM held a one-day convention calling for the restoration of Article 370 and initiation of dialogue with Pakistan.The convention stood out as a rare political event in Kashmir Valley, where even most of the regional parties have largely shifted discourse to demanding the restoration of statehood rather than raising the issue of restoring J&K’s special status.Addressing party workers at the event, titled ‘Convention for the Restoration of Legitimate Constitutional Rights of the People of Jammu and Kashmir’, CPM general secretary M Alexander Baby said the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to J&K, amounted to betrayal. “Before adding it into the Constitution of India, Article 370 was thoroughly deliberated upon and agreed to,” Baby said.He hit out at Union home minister Amit Shah for claiming that the abrogation of Article 370 had brought peace and development to Kashmir.Baby, accompanied by several party MPs and other functionaries, also visited border areas in Uri to assess the destruction caused by Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor. He said the compensation offered to affected residents was inadequate. “Govt is providing only Rs 1.3 lakh for damaged houses and residential structures. That amount is meagre,” he said, adding that party MPs would raise the issue in the Lok Sabha.The CPM leader, who also met family members of Adil Shah, the ponywallah killed in Pahalgam terror attack, said Kashmiris had been fighting terrorism for years, but the current administration had marginalised elected representatives of the state. During the security review meetings, it’s the LG, a nominee of the Centre, who chaired the meeting, while the elected chief minister Omar Abdullah was excluded, Baby said, adding that “this only emboldens the terrorists”.Baby asserted that terrorism must be fought, but war was not a solution. “Military options are limited. On May 7, certain steps were taken, but we must stop there and begin negotiations,” he said, calling for bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. Rejecting any third-party intervention, he said US President Donald Trump shouldn’t have any role.CPM leader from Kashmir, M Y Tarigami, also criticised the central govt for bifurcating J&K and stripping it of statehood and special status. “This is the only region in the country where such a reversal (from state to Union Territory) has happened. Elsewhere, UTs have been upgraded to full states,” Tarigami said.
