Srinagar: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should clarify why the BJP’s ideological icon Syama Prasad Mookerjee had at one point supported Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said.
In an interview to ThePrint, Abdullah also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power at the Centre, had turned Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into a “prisoner of Delhi”.
Polling for the first phase of assembly elections in J&K, where Article 370 of the Constitution granting the region special autonomous status was abrogated in August 2019, began Wednesday amid tight security arrangements. Following the abrogation, the Centre had divided the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories (UT) of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Abdullah, a former chief minister of J&K, said that if his party won the polls, it would go to the Supreme Court for restoring the statehood as well as the restoration of Article 370.
“I want to ask them, the Sangh, ever since Article 370 was given to the state; there was even Syama Prasad Mookerjee who signed that… Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel (also) signed it… and (Jawaharlal) Nehru wasn’t here, Nehru was in America. And it was approved. So, what was it done for? To bring the state up,” he explained.
According to Abdullah, the removal of Article 370 was not “India’s voice, it was the BJP government’s voice”.
“Article 370 was taken away by them (the BJP). It was not the country’s voice. It was their voice that from the beginning wanted to oppose this. And so they removed it after so many years. How does it matter? It may take us (NC) 100 years, but we will achieve it one day (restoration of Article 370),” he asserted.
When it was pointed out that the principal opposition Congress party, which is contesting the J&K elections in alliance with the NC, was keeping mum on the issue of restoration of Article 370, Abdullah said the party’s stand was related to its national politics.
“How does it matter? They have a different perspective; they have to see the nation. We have to see our state, our people.”
When asked whether J&K had witnessed any change in the past few years, Abdullah said the only change was the presence of more security forces.
“Yes. More forces everywhere. When the G20 (summit) was held (last year), they were not able to take those people (foreign attendees) to Gulmarg. Why were they not able to take when ambassadors came? Why did they (attendees) not meet people freely? Why were they confined to the hotel and to Dal Lake? Is that a proof that everything is alright?” he asked.
“They (government) bring Amarnath yatris (pilgrims) in buses, stopping them at particular places. In my day, we never put forces on the hills and everywhere. They were free. They used to come for bhagwan darshan and go peacefully. In these years, they have confined them to areas and locations. They can’t come out of those locations. They cannot walk around in Srinagar or walk in, have a ride in a shikara (boat) and Dal Lake; they can’t go to Gulmarg.”
Regarding on the Gupkar alliance (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration or PAGD), a collection of political parties in J&K seeking restoration of special status under Article 370 and Article 35A, the NC chief said they had not given up on that.
The NC was part of the alliance when it was formed, but the coalition is now believed to have fragmented.
When asked what went wrong with its alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdullah said: “We had the parliamentary elections; they didn’t stand by us, so we didn’t stand by them. So here also, it is the same thing. We didn’t approach them, they didn’t approach us.”
When asked to name the NC’s chief political rival, Abdullah said: “It is the BJP and the RSS… they are the enemies of the country, not of J&K alone.”
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Countering Modi
On Saturday, while addressing a public rally in J&K’s Doda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed the assembly elections in the Union Territory a battle between the three families of the NC, the PDP, and the Congress, and “lakhs of sons and daughters of the soil with dreams in their eyes”.
Countering Modi, Abdullah said: “I wish you would have seen that when militancy was at its height. Who paid the price for staying with the nation? National Conference workers and ministers. They were bombed off, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) were put under their cars. And what did they die for? To hold the Indian nation high, that Modiji forgets unfortunately.”
“Maharaja (Hari Singh, last ruler of J&K) alone could not have got Kashmir into India.”
“Who is the one who brought Kashmir into India? Who? Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah, Sher-e-Kashmir and his party National Conference. The Maharaja alone couldn’t have done it… we opposed (Kashmir joining Pakistan). He (Modi) forgets that,” Abdullah said.
The NC chief went on to recount an incident in the Rajya Sabha, where former opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had compared Gujarat and J&K while the PM was sitting in the House.
“He (Azad) gave figures and showed that Jammu & Kashmir was better in every field than Gujarat. How did that happen? Is it because it was family rule? It is because we drove the state into a modern country state in every way,” he said.
Launching the poll campaign from Doda, Modi had also said that terrorism is taking its “last breath” in J&K due to his government’s work.
Responding to this, Abdullah said: “Democracy is people’s way of life. When the government wouldn’t listen, they (protesters) would do stone-pelting. Today, how many of them are (still) locked up?”
Alleging that development has come to a standstill in the region in the past few years, the NC chief said, “they (BJP-led central government) have reduced the state to nothing but a place where I think we are all prisoners of Delhi”.
“It’s the first time in the history of this nation that you have a state reduced to a UT. I have seen UTs being made states. It’s the biggest tragedy this government has done to the people of J&K. We will approach the Supreme Court after we win… Insha Allah with full force we will go.”
Abdullah further said that in case of a fractured mandate, the NC will weigh its options and decide on the course of action.
‘They can talk to China, why not Pakistan’
The NC chief once again reiterated his stand on the need for India to have a dialogue with Pakistan.
When asked why Pakistan mattered as far as Kashmir was concerned, and when the Centre had made it clear that terror and talks can’t go hand-in-hand, Abdullah said, “then they’ll have to wait (to bring peace in J&K) for millions of years”.
“They can talk to China, which controls over 2,000 km of our soil. They can talk to them 20 times and the Chinese don’t move, but they are further extending as much as they can. Why can’t they talk to the neighbour here (Pakistan)? What’s the problem?”
“Do they (government) think that by sitting on one side, the matter will disappear? Even if tomorrow my government is there… the NC and the Congress, they will have to face terrorism. This will not die. They forget IC-814 (hijack). Masood Azhar and others were released, who are now running the policies from there. Yes, they’re (Centre) responsible. I disagreed with them (over release of terrorists in exchange for hostages) forcefully,” he asserted.
The NC chief refused to say who will be the chief minister if the party won the J&K elections. “We’re not going to say anything. Let’s first win the election.”
Engineer Rashid, whose Awami Ittehad Party is contesting the J&K polls, had been “sent by Delhi to do their job”, according to the former CM.
“He’s trying to convince them (people) that he’ll probably bring azadi (freedom) here. There will be a plebiscite here. You should ask him questions on that. What about plebiscite? Did you ask him about the plebiscite? What did he say? Yes, there you are. Delhi should be ready for it—self-determination.”
According to Abdullah, a number of smaller players (contesting the elections) have been sent by the BJP to ensure that, in case of a fractured mandate, it can cobble up the numbers to form a government in J&K.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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