THE JAMMU and Kashmir Apni Party on Wednesday staged silent protests in the Valley against the Delimitation Commission's draft recommendations that suggest six additional assembly seats for Jammu as against only one for Kashmir. The party also submitted a memorandum to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, expressing concerns over the draft recommendations of the Delimitation Commission, the Real Estate Summit in Jammu and curbs on the freedom of press. Apni Party workers led by its president Altaf Bukhari also took out a silent protest march in Srinagar. Police, however, stopped them from moving on the city streets. “The nature of the protest was to register the dissent of the party with regards to the recent Delimitation Report, tampering with Domicile Law and freedom of press,” the party said. In its memorandum to Lt Gen Sinha, it said, “The party had welcomed the Delimitation Commission and even interacted with their delegation while suggesting certain requisite changes. We believed that the process would be factual and transparent. However, the recent proposed report is visibly disproportionate and encourages the doubts of favoritism towards a specific political party.” It said the draft recommendations “defeat the very idea of a secular India” and compromises on the rules guiding the process involved in territorial delimitation of Assembly constituencies as mandated by Election Commission India and the Constitution.
