Srinagar, Jan. 22 -- Less than six months since its formation, the PAGD seems about to come loose

WHEN the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration was formed in April last year, few people in Kashmir expected it to last. But no one expected it to fall apart so soon. With the exit of the People's Conference, the alliance has been left reeling and if nothing is done to give it a fresh sense of purpose, the remaining constituents may too go their separate ways.

The reason for the PC chief Sajad Gani Lone to leave the PAGD is the fielding of proxy candidates against one another by the constituent parties in the recent District Development Council polls. Lone has termed it "a breach of trust" and rightly so. After the PAGD nominated candida...