Assuage political aspirations of J&K people to address root cause of all problems: NC chief
The National Conference today asked the PDP-BJP coalition to stop the alleged reign of “repression and coercion” unleashed against the entire population in the Valley, lest the situation takes such an ugly turn that it becomes beyond the control of the governments at Srinagar and in New Delhi to handle.
“Enough is enough”, Farooq Abdullah, National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister of the state, said while referring to killings and large-scale arrests being made on daily basis in a mistaken belief of quelling the ongoing unrest, which he described as people’s anger against betrayal of the PDP by joining hands with the BJP.
He was addressing workers at Surankote this afternoon on the conclusion of his four-day visit to border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.
He said normalcy could not be restored by subjecting the people to harassment and intimidation or by rehabilitating jails with thousands of innocents. “Peace shall remain a distant dream unless New Delhi addresses the root cause by assuaging political aspirations of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh,” he said while reminding the promises made with people of the state in 1947.
He referred to the statement of former Sadr-e-Riyasat Dr Karan Singh in Parliament recently on the Instrument of Accession and said the younger generation had at least come to know the terms of accession and circumstances that led to its inking by Maharaja Hari Singh.
The NC chief cautioned the Central leadership against the crucial delay in reaching out to the people and making sincere efforts in resolving political problem of Kashmir, saying the grim situation in the Valley called for winning over hearts and minds.
“People’s trust and confidence cannot be won by pellet guns or putting youth behind bars,” he said, adding that instead of showing semblances of civility and compassion, the government was allegedly indulging in provocations.
“How can they expect students to appear for examinations with many of them being in jails?” he said, adding that “the situation in the Valley is worse, as the people are suffering for want of basics, medicare being the worst-hit”.
Abdullah said continued unrest had unnerved the ruling coalition, which in a bid to divert the attention from current alarming situation, was brazenly dividing people on the basis of region and religion. The RSS, he alleged, was encouraging polarisation, which was against the idea of secular and inclusive Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammed Sagar, additional general secretary Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, provincial president, Jammu, Devender Rana, state vice-president and former minister Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari, MLA Javed Rana, provincial youth National Conference president Ajaz Jan and other senior party functionaries of Poonch were present on the occasion.
