Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and several other Opposition leaders in Kashmir were “locked” in their homes on the 5th anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 on Monday while the Amarnath yatra from the Jammu base camp was suspended for the day because of security reasons.

While most leaders of the regional parties remained confined to their homes as the gates were locked by the authorities, BJP activists distributed sweets on the streets of Srinagar.

The BJP held a rally in the border town of Ranbirsinghpura in Jammu to mark the day while PDP activists protested against the abrogation of special status of J&K.

In her reaction, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X; “While BJP continues its charade of orchestrating ‘celebrations’ to mark the illegal revocation of J&Ks special status, PDP successfully protested against the same in Jammu. This was remarkable given that attempts were made to foil these protests. Serves well to expose BJPs false claims of normalcy in J&K”.

“5th August 2019 will go down in history not just as a dark day for J&K but a blot on Indian democracy. The day when a semi autonomous state was disempowered, dismembered & robbed of everything special & sacrosanct to us. Since then the state has been threatened into silence which is touted as ‘peace and normalcy’ to the rest of the country. Five years on the siege continues but so does the unyielding defiance & resistance. We Kashmiris refuse to be erased & unpeopled,” she added.

National Conference (NC) Vice-President Omar Abdullah, in his reaction to BJP leaders celebrating the day, wrote on X: “This is what passes for democracy & free speech in J&K. A handful of BJP “leaders” are encouraged to celebrate today while those who would have registered their protest against what was done to J&K are locked up in homes across the valley”.

“The Government has once again unjustly placed our leaders under house arrest, effectively isolating the party headquarters Nawa-e-Subha in Srinagar. This blatant suppression of mainstream democratic activities only serves to showcase the administration’s underlying fear and exposes the hollowness of their claims of progress over the past five years.

“August 5, 2019, remains a stark reminder of the disempowerment of the people of J&K, a process that continues unchecked with the absence of a democratically elected government in the region. The unilateral and undemocratic decisions made on August 5, 2019, are a betrayal of the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by New Delhi. These decisions are unacceptable to the people of J&K, as demonstrated by the recent parliamentary election results in the region. As far as JKNC is concerned, we will persist in our fight for the restoration of our abridged rights through democratic, legal, and peaceful means. The unjust actions of the government will not deter us from our mission to uphold the rights and freedoms of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Omar added.

Peoples Conference chief, Sajad Lone wrote; “August 5 will always be an ugly reminder of the complete disempowerment of the Kashmiri people. Five years on there is no elected Assembly and the locals have no say in running their own affairs. And sadly there aren’t enough powerful voices in the country to seek questions as to why J&K has been selectively targeted for such humiliating existence.”

Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Mir wrote; “This day Article 370 was abrogated and state was reduced to UT (against the wishes of people) with the promise State will be restored. Till date the State has not been restored. We demand early restoration preferably before elections”.