India, Aug. 30 -- On August 22, more than a year after the withdrawal of Article 370 that granted J&K its semi-autonomous status under India's constitution, six major mainstream parties including Congress got together to jointly fight the move. They released a joint statement after days of secret deliberation in which they expressed their resolve to abide by the Gupkar Declaration of August 4, 2019 - a day before the revocation of Article 370 - in which these parties had resolved to protect the state's special constitutional status and fight against any move to

dilute it.

"The series of measures undertaken on 5th August 2019 were grossly unconstitutional and in reality measures of disempowerment and a challenge to the basic identity of ...