On June 24, an all-party meeting of mainstream leaders from Jammu and Kashmir will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The meeting is the first sign of the Centre’s outreach to the old political class in Jammu and Kashmir after it scrapped the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 of the Indian constitution in August 2019.
Last week, key mainstream leaders in Kashmir had confirmed to reporters that they had received a formal invite from the prime minister. This included senior leaders of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, a conglomerate of older, regional political parties that have been demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.
On Tuesday, the leaders of the Gupkar Alliance met in Srinagar. Dr Farooq Abdullah, president of the National Conference who heads the alliance, told reporters that all leaders invited by New Delhi will attend the meeting…