Baramulla, Mar 10: Stating that the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) believes in development with dignity and respect, the JKPC President Sajad Gani Lone on Sunday said the development without respect and dignity will not be accepted.
Addressing his maiden Party workers convention in Baramulla after making announcement of the Party’s candidate for upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Sajad Lone said the people of Kashmir want everything with respect and love. “We should be given whatever is rightfully ours, with respect and dignity,” he said. He said dignity of people of Kashmir means that the laws that exist for the rest of the children in India should be similarly applicable for the people of Kashmir.
“But unfortunately, whether it is about issuing a passport or any other job or work, our children are told to obtain police clearance only because his grandfather or a distant relative was against the system a decade ago. This is not acceptable. The laws that are kept for your children in the rest of India should also be kept for our children. This is called dignity,”Lone said.
He said there is a concept of reintegration under which a person or an organisation who goes against the system receives a punishment for a particular time but cannot be kept out of the system for their entire life.
“Reintegration means that if someone speaks against the system at some point, they should be reintegrated into the system after some time and should receive the same treatment which others are given,” Sajad Lone said.
He said these demands and issues need to be discussed in the Parliament. “We will make our brothers in India understand our difficulties. The National Conference leaders can claim they can also talk about such issues but they are the people who brought these laws in Kashmir,” he said.
Addressing the gathering of party workers Sajad Lone expressed his gratitude to the people of Baramulla for their love and respect. “This time, the Lok Sabha elections are more important than ever. Over the years we have been sending leaders of other Parties (NC) to the Parliament but they only disappointed the people of Kashmir,” Lone said.
He said that in 2019, Article 370, 35A, and statehood were taken away from the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “We need to go to Parliament and talk about these issues, as whatever is happening with the Kashmiris needs to be conveyed to Parliament,” he said. He said from 1975 till now, NC has sent around eight to 10 Member Parliament (MP) to Parliament who failed to represent the people of Kashmir.”We will not criticise them, but those who went there should tell whether they have brought any development or addressed any issues pertaining to Kashmiris,” Sajad Lone asked.
“If they couldn’t do anything since 1975, why do we keep sending them? It’s not just their mistake but our mistake because we kept voting for them and sending them to Parliament,” he said. Lashing out at NC for its atrocities, Sajad Lone said there are two types of people in Kashmir for the last 30 years: those who suffered and those who made others suffer, those who took bullets and those who fired bullets, those who went to jail and those who sent others to jail.
“I am proud that I have taken beatings, been to jail, and tortured as well. I am like you all,” Lone said. Hitting out at National Conference Leadership, Sajad Lone said not a day goes by when the NC doesn’t issue statements about the abrogation of Article 370. “But the reality is that the people did not take away Article 370; it was the Parliament. Kashmiris cannot take it back; only the Parliament can give it back,” he said.
He said NC leaders talk about the Article 370 but when we (JKPC) filed an Right to Information (RTI) application it was revealed that NC MPs raised only five to 10 questions in Parliament in the last five years. “This means that they don’t talk where they are supposed to raise these issues but talk unnecessarily where it is not required,” he said. On People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) friction, Sajad Lone said when JKPC walked out of the alliance, the party was accused of harming the aspirations of people.
“It was not a big deal if PAGD had reserved one seat in south Kashmir for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). No matter if people are with them or not, if you (NC) say PAGD was made for a bigger cause, then sharing one seat should not have been a big deal,” he said.
Talking about the development of Baramulla town, Sajad Lone said the town was the gateway of India, but it has become ruins. “This is the right time, give us an opportunity to represent our people in the Parliament,” he said.