New Delhi, July 23 -- Jammu and Kashmir Member of Parliament Aga Ruhulla Mehdi on Wednesday said that the people of the region never chose to live voiceless or invisible and yet, decades after joining the Indian Union, they are being made to feel exactly that.

Speaking at the "Statehood Now" public meeting organised by the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir at the Deputy Speaker's Hall, Constitution Club of India, Mehdi said, "We didn't sign up for immigration. We didn't sign up for slavery or helplessness. We joined India on the promise of dignity, equality, and mutual respect not to watch our future decided by others while we are forced to the sidelines."

According to KNS, he reflected on 1947 the moment when Jammu and Kashmi...