National Conference, while commemorating the sacrifices and 22 year long struggle of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for the dignity of this State and its people has said that 9th August 1953 was a black day in the History of Jammu and Kashmir.
“This was the day when Prime Minister of J&K Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was surrounded by the Army and arrested after his popular government was illegally dismissed by Karan Singh under a deep-rooted political intrigue to erode the special status of the State. After the illegal overthrow of the popular National Conference Government, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was taken to Udhampur and imprisoned in Tara Niwas Palace in the scorching heat of summer while Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad was illegally and unconstitutionally sworn in as the new puppet Prime Minister of the State”, NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said.
Stating that August 9th 1953 was a day when a prolonged constitutional and political assault was launched on the status and sovereignty of J&K, NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said that Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was an epitome of selfless nationalism, patriotism and sacrifices for the cause of his nation’s dignity.
“Sheikh Sahib chose imprisonment over toeing Delhi’s line at a time when New Delhi wanted to erode Article 370 and put in place a pliant puppet in Srinagar. The unconstitutional and illegal arrest of a Prime Minister inflicted a very deep wound on the psyche of Kashmiris, a wound that remains sore to this very day. Had this coup not taken place in 1953, Kashmir would not have witnessed the haunting turmoil and loss of lives that it did – a political turmoil it continues to suffer and reel under”, Sagar added.
“Bakshi, the new puppet who was installed to erode Article 370 in his very first speech said that Sheikh Sahib was displaced and arrested because he wanted to form a free state of Jammu & Kashmir and that he would never be allowed to succeed in his plan. Former IB Director B N Mullick has also said that the Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru supported and endorsed Sheikh’s arrest and overthrow on the allegations that Sheikh Sahib was planning a rebellion in Kashmir for the promised rights and dignity of his people. Till this day, National Conference continues to suffer from sub-intrigues of this main political intrigue. Back then it was Bakshi and his cronies and today we have Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who has taken over the role of being the one who will help to erode Article 370”, the NC General Secretary added while stating that it was a time to remain vigilant and cautious as history has taught us bitter lessons of collaborators from within hatching conspiracies against the State.
Sagar said that Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah denounced this assault on the constitution and dignity of J&K and launched the Plebiscite Front and struggled for 22 whole years in prison cells to stand up for the political aspirations of his people while demanding that promises made to them should be upheld.
“During the period when they put Sheikh Sahib in jail illegally, New Delhi illegally and unconstitutionally extended the domain of 92 Central Laws to J&K during the puppet and pliant Governments of stooges and traitors like Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad, G. M. Sadiq and others. Till 1975, the Autonomy of J&K was torn to shreds and eroded while the entire National Conference top leadership was languishing in jails”, the NC General Secretary said.
“It has been 61 years today but the ghosts of 9th August 1953 continue to haunt the lives of our people. The conflict that erupted in 1989 was just another manifestation of the resentment that the people of this State harbor in their hearts for the intrigues that have been hatched against their democratic rights. National Conference on this black day demands the complete and full restoration of Internal Autonomy–as validated by our decades of struggle and by the Autonomy Resolution passed in the Legislative Assembly in 2000. Not only is there a need to safeguard Article 370 in its existing shape but the call of justice and statesmanship is to strive for the complete restoration of Internal Autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir”, Sagar added.
