Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby on Wednesday (June 11, 2025) warned against third-party intervention in Jammu and Kashmir and instead pitched for India and Pakistan to begin direct negotiations. The Left party also pushed for the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution and the Statehood of J&K.
Speaking at the party’s one-day convention at Srinagar’s Tagore Hall, Mr. Baby said: “Administrative, political and diplomatic initiatives are needed to sort out problems. When we speak about dealing with terrorism, military options are limited. Certain steps have been taken [during Operation Sindoor]. We have to put a stop to it now. The negotiation should start between both countries and there should not be any third-party intervention. People like [U.S. President] Donald Trump should not be allowed to interfere in our affairs.”
Mr. Baby is part of the CPI (M) delegation visiting J&K, along with MPs Amra Ram, Bikash Ranjan Battacharya, John Brittas, A.A. Ahmad, Su Venkatesan, and K. Radhakrishnan.
‘Restore Article 370, Statehood’
Criticising the Union government for abrogating provisions of Article 370 and downgrading J&K into a Union Territory in 2019, Mr. Baby said, “If we have to fight terrorism in Kashmir, we have to ensure that the democratic rights taken away by cancelling Article 370 be restored, along with Statehood. Restoring legitimate constitutional rights will pave the way for building confidence among the people of J&K, which is quite necessary for peace in the area.”
