Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member Parliament Dr Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday urged Government of India to seize the golden opportunity and hold talks with all the stakeholders in the state.
The NC president while underscoring the inevitability of theprocess of dialogue said, “On June 22, 2019 Governor (Satya Pal Malik) had saidthat the Hurriyat was ready for talks. I believe BJP should use its massivemandate to solve the protracted issue of Jammu and Kashmir. There is no otheralternative to dialogue. It is the institution of dialogue that will commitboth to listen, reflect and question in order to reach a greater understanding.It is an apt time for the Centre to open all channels of dialogue with theHurriyat. We have been hearing the Catch-words of “Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat,and Insaniyat” for long now, however nothing substantial was done to materializethem.”
“The BJP led centralgovernment should without much delay tread the path as shown by Vajpayee. TheCentre should move in that direction and hold talks with all stakeholders inthe state on the principles advocated by him. The measure of opening dialogue with all the stakeholders will certainlyact as a catalyst for restoring peace in the ill-fated state of ours. It ishigh time for BJP to turn its massive mandate into an aggressive engagementwith all the stakeholders.”
The Party president while necessitating for a dialogue said,”The central government should also address to the external dimensions of theissue and use the method of tact and diplomacy. The central government shouldcontinue with the good work done by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.Pakistan too should attend to the genuine grievances of the India. The muchtouted ‘Neighborhood first’ policy of the BJP led central government would not be able to give the India muchanticipated diplomatic dividends if neighbours are left out on this front. I amof the thought that India and Pakistan bonhomie is indispensable for the fightagainst militancy. The new government in the Centre with a far bigger mandatewill certainly earn more esteem if it is able to bring peace in the region. Nowit is for the central government to consider if it wants to go down the lane ofhistory as a government that wasn’t able to find solution to the longstandingproblem plaguing the region.”
While rejecting thefrequent tirade of BJP ministers against the Art 370, Art 35- A he said, “Thehonorable Prime Minister should stop the untaught and unintelligent rantsemanating from his party. The matter of Art 35-A is sub-judice and it istherefore not appropriate for anybody to comment on it. On the other hand thehonorable Supreme Court has recently opined in its 3 April judgment that Art370 has acquired a permanent status.”
“The provision of Art 370 was not given to us by the thenPrime Minister Nehru, but the constituent assembly of India. The motion wassupported by the then Home Minister Vallab Bhai Patel, and the then IndustriesMinister Shyama Prasad Mukharjee. In addition to that Art 370 is powered by theconditional instrument of accession previously signed by Maharaja Hari Singh. Moreover the state of Jammu and Kashmirdidn’t sign any merger papers which were signed by other princely states, ourerstwhile head of state Maharaja only signed document of accession subject toconditions. Subsequently the state and the Centre entered into an accord, theDelhi agreement of 1952 as it is referred to as. The accord was ratified by theParliament of India and subsequently by the constituent assembly of the state.As such any unscrupulous fiddling with special status of the state will inverselyhit the bond of the state with the union. Likewise Art 1 will come under shadowif the Art 370 is fiddled with.”
Meanwhile, the NC president said the Kashmiris have alwaystaken it upon themselves to support Shri Amarnath Yatra. “Honorable Governorhas himself said that the Yatra has always been supported by the locals. Thenone fails to understand why locals are put to undue duress by coming up withreckless traffic gags and highways bans. I urge the government to do away withthe highway ban. Such decision does not behoove a democratic country like thatof ours,” he added.
While expressingdismay over the appalling condition of the sole train service in the Valley hesaid, “The condition of the train is unclean and the compartments arepresenting a filthy appearance.”
Dr Farooq said that he even raised the issue in the Parliament the other day. He sought immediateimprovement of the facilities being given to the commuters on the train.