SRINAGAR: National Conference president, Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is “here to stay”, saying that nobody should have a doubt over the alliance, even as he demanded the release of detained leaders.”We are here to stay and nobody should have any doubt in it,” said Abdullah, who is the head of PAGD- an alliance of various political parties.While speaking to the reporters after the meeting of PAGD constituents at his Gupkar residence held in the aftermath of its resounding victory in DDC polls, Abdullah demanded that the LG-led administration should release all the detained political leaders if they wanted the democracy to survive here.Demanding the immediate restoration of high-speed Internet service in J&K, Abdullah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about 5-G, but people of J&K were still craving for 4G Internet.Speaking on the occasion, PAGD leader and Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone expressed gratitude to the people who voted in the recently concluded DDC polls.He, however, alleged that the government was acting in a partisan manner by interfering with the peoples verdict. “I would say that there are some disturbing reports coming about interference in democracy, in the peoples verdict where in the government of the day is acting in partisan manner and in fact becoming a partner in facilitating moves by some people to attack independent towards them by confining them. I think they should resist this and not humiliate the great verdict of DDC polls,” Lone said. “History is witness that who tried to humiliate the peoples’ verdict ended up in a disaster. Under no circumstances, should democracy be tinkered with,” Lone said.He said “preventive detentions” is a new trend. “What is the logic of this? We have had most peaceful DDC polls where there was not even a single violence-related incident. In last three decades, we have seen so much violence. We condemn these preventive detentions and with all power we have, we demand release of all those detained immediately,” Lone said.
