Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra on Thursday demanded a review of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), saying people of the region have suffered the most because of the more than six-decade-old agreement.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations. The World Bank was a signatory of the pact which sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two sides on the use of waters of cross-border rivers.

“As we have already mentioned in our (Assembly election) manifesto that there should be a review of the IWT as the people of J&K have suffered the most due to the agreement,” Karra said at a press conference. The Congress leader, who is leading the party’s 15-day campaign in support of the restoration of statehood over the past week in the Jammu region, addressed the workers’ convention in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar in the Chenab valley region.

Justifying the demand for free or subsidised electricity, Karra said the government should consider it and devise a suitable mechanism. He alleged that instead of listening to the agitated people of the Chenab region, the administration is threatening to book them under the Public Safety Act. “Is this the way of dealing with people in a democracy?” he asked, saying the Constitution grants permission to the people to raise their issues through peaceful protests.