National Conference president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the struggle for restoration of Article 370 will continue irrespective of whether political parties part of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration “move ahead or stay behind.”
“Some (alliance partners) will continue and some will stay behind but we will move forward. We continue to demand for restoration of statehood and revoking the laws which have been brought into effect on August 5, 2019,” Dr Abdullah told the Greater Kashmir.
The former Chief Minister said while the Government of India is mulling the return of statehood to J&K, restoration of special status should also be considered. “The restoration of statehood and special status is for the benefit of every citizen of J&K and Ladakh. The special status protected the interests of the farmers and prevented them from hardships and poverty. It prevented them from droughts and suicides that we get to see in other parts of the country. There are many states in India where you cannot buy land and outsiders cannot seek employment, so we continue to say that while you return the statehood, also restore the special status of J&K which includes Article 370 and Article 35-A,” Dr Abdullah said.
Commenting on the People’s Conference leaving the PAGD, Dr Abdullah said, “It was the personal choice of PC chairman Sajad Lone” but added that there was “no compulsion for anyone (alliance partner)”.
“There may be certain other compulsions on him (Sajad Lone) which I don’t want to discuss but it is sad. No one closes the doors or stops anyone from coming in or leaving. There is no compulsion. We never fought for power but against a certain element that wants to divide the country on the basis of caste, religion and creed,” Dr Abdullah said.
When asked about the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that J&K has witnessed huge development after scrapping of the special status, Dr Abdullah said: “The Home Minister should have listened to the earlier speech of Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Parliament in which he had compared J&K and Gujarat. In each of the comparisons, J&K was way ahead and Gujarat lagging behind. But ever since this (abrogation of Article 370) we have been pushed towards under-development,” Dr Abdullah said. He said it was important to provide a boost to the local industry before encouraging outside industry in J&K. “We don’t get to see the outcome of the Rs 80,000 crore Prime Minister’s Development Package. Look at the roads and the conditions of the roads. It is important that sectors such as tourism which have suffered a massive set back are brought back on the track and local industry is supported,” Dr Abdullah said.
The former chief minister accused that J&K was “now lagging behind in all the sectors”. “We are lagging behind in each sector whether education, industry or any other segment. It seems they want to push J&K towards under-development which we can’t just watch,” Dr Abdullah said.
Dr Abdullah alleged “discrepancies” during the recently held elections for posts of chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the District Development Councils.
“Look at what the DC Budgam did on the day of elections of chairpersons and vice-chairpersons. We had 9 members on one side and only 5 were on the other side. But in the process of drawing lots, the same clerk who had made the chits picked up the chits after he had put an identification mark on them. Look at the way our DDC members were treated in Shopian. They are answerable in front of God for all these wrongdoings,” Dr Abdullah said.