Srinagar, July 15 -- The Awami Ittehad Party on Tuesday announced that its political affairs committee has authorised party president and Baramulla member of Parliament, Engineer Rashid, to make the final decision regarding the National Conference's invitation to join the July 20 protest in the national capital for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. Rashid is currently behind bars in Delhi's Tihar Jail on terror-funding charges. AIP chief spokesperson Inam Un Nabi said the invitation has been conveyed to Rashid through his legal team, leaving the ultimate choice to him in the broader interest of the region. However, the party accompanied this development with criticism of the National Conference, urging its leadership to reflect on past political choices. The AIP recalled Rashid's 2024 counsel to Omar, advising him against taking the oath as chief minister under the present Union Territory framework, a position he (Omar) himself had once likened to running a municipality. The party criticised the NC for ignoring that advice and forming a government before full statehood was restored. The AIP said both Omar and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti should explain the dissolution of the Gupkar Alliance, claiming the coalition's collapse allowed the BJP-led central government to entrench its policies, sidelining local political voices. The spokesperson alleged that the NC deliberately excluded the AIP during the formation of the Gupkar Alliance, choosing instead to accommodate minor political factions that existed mostly on paper. The party spokesperson accused the NC of diluting its core political agenda, pointing out that after campaigning heavily on promises of autonomy and constitutional safeguards, the leadership has now reduced its political aspirations entirely to the single issue of statehood....