Srinagar, Nov 12: A day after the PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig accused late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah of trading his plebiscite cause for power, his daughter and president Awami National Conference Begum Khalida Shah hit back calling him (Baig) a political novice who is ‘ignorant about the history of Plebiscite Front movement’. 
  “It is really unfortunate that a person who is totally unaware of the factors responsible for creation of the Plebiscite Front has the cheek to talk of plebiscite,” Begum Khalida Shah said in a statement Monday, adding she had been an active soldier and a part of the Plebiscite Front throughout its existence.
 Describing the PDP leader as a political novice, she advised Baig to study the history of the movement and introspect if his own forerunners had not committed political blunders when Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had been implicated in a fabricated conspiracy case.
 “We alone know the extent of tribulations and atrocities that were inflicted upon us and how many acid tests we went through during the days of Plebiscite Front and other movements,” Begum Khalida said, adding that “Before hurling the charge on Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah of a sell-out of plebiscite against power, Muzaffar Baig would better ask himself why the late leader had spent the precious years of his life behind bars and why he had spurned the offer of power in 1954 when the then prime minister of India had, in a personal communication, apologized to him for the events of 1953,” she said.
 Indeed, Begum Khalida said, Baig seemed to be ignorant of the conditions that prevailed when the oppressed and suppressed people of Kashmir could not open their mouth against any excesses. “It was because of the struggle and sacrifices of the late leader that Baig reached the pinnacle of his legal career,” she said.
 “Now, when the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah is not around, leveling baseless allegations against him can be termed only as political dishonesty,” she said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:00:00 IST