Kashmir unrest: Former PDP leader Tariq Hameed Karra sends resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker
The senior leader said he was forced to resign in protest against the government’s handling of the crisis in the Valley.
Member of Parliament Tariq Hameed Karra, who had announced his resignation from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Lok Sabha on September 15, sent his resignation to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on Thursday. In the resignation letter, Karra said he was forced to resign in protest against the government’s handling of the unrest. He also blamed the Government of India for its failure in calming down the unrest.
Karra said, “The present situation can’t be allowed to dither any more as it could have dangerous consequences for the state and the region. It has already threatened the gains of the peace process which were so painstakingly made earlier." He was one of the founding members of the party when it was formed in 1999. Karra had voiced his resentment against the PDP-BJP alliance even before the current unrest in the Valley.
He said he was resigning from the House because the government seems unlikely to take any concrete steps towards peace in the region. "In the prevailing agonizing situation, I have decided to stand by my suppressed people instead of continuing as a Member of a forum which is yet to make any tangible move to end the state-sponsored violence in Kashmir," he said.
The senior leader had earlier said that “As a mark of protest on moral grounds against the brutal policies of the BJP at the Centre and the state government’s complete sellout and surrender before them, I have decided to disassociate myself from the primary membership of the PDP and from the membership of Parliament.’’ His resignation leaves Muzaffar Hussain Baig, representing Baramulla, the only PDP MP in the Lok Sabha as Mehbooba Mufti vacated the Anantnag seat after becoming the state’s chief minister in June.