Srinagar, 18 July (H.S.): Laying down its condition to join the protest scheduled by the National Conference in Delhi on July 20 seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday 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.

The PDP will join the Jantar Mantar protest only if the restoration of Article 370, the release of political prisoners, and the lifting of the ban on Jamaat are central to its agenda, Mehbooba said in a letter to National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

Protesting in unison solely for statehood would only legitimise and sanitise the illegal act of revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status and could be viewed as a direct endorsement of August 5, the darkest day in our collective history, Mehbooba wrote in the two-page letter.

Abdullah has invited leaders from across Jammu and Kashmir's political spectrum to join the National Conference-led protest at Jantar Mantar on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament to press for its demand for statehood restoration.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar