Farooq Abdullah has once again courted controversy by saying that the youth in Kashmir are ready to fight the Indian Army.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah has once again courted controversy by stating that the youth in Kashmir are not afraid to fight the Indian Army. They are ready to fight and die, it’s Allah’s will, he said in a series of tweets.
Such statements would only worsen the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. To say the least, the statement is highly provocative. Instead of trying to heal wounds, he is only adding fuel to fire.
Farooq Abdullah should go back to what he loves to do: Dance and gyrate to Bollywood numbers rather than trying to gain cheap publicity.
He also said “Kashmir is our land. We are the rightful owners.”
Farooq Abdullah, a former Union minister and chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, must be senile in making such statements. What does he mean by “our land?” Jammu and Kashmir is very much part of India. If he has other thoughts and feels he is not part of India, he should clarify to which country he belongs to.
He should be booked for treason. Or, is Farooq Abdullah aspiring to become the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir? If so, it will remain just a pipedream.
In his tweets he said: When our boys are rendering sacrifices, they are not aspiring to become MLAs, MPs or ministers. They are giving sacrifices to demand their right, ‘this is our land and we are its rightful owners’
He said the youth in Kashmir were picking up guns to fight (the Indian Army) for their rights, and that their generation was ‘deceived’. He said that the Kashmiri youth are not afraid or be intimidated by death threats. “They are not afraid of death nor can they be intimidated with the threat because they have handed themselves over to Allah’s will, ” he was quoted in The Kashmir Monitor
At the same time, he called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the policy of “bullet for bullet” will only worsen the situation in the state. “If you want to improve the situation in Kashmir, then the only way is to start a dialogue. The talk of bullet for bullet will only make the things worse,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function.
But he was silent on the ceasefire violations by Pakistan and Islamabad providing support to terrorists to wage war against India.
He said India and Pakistan need to come together and resume the stalled dialogue process to resolve the long standing Kashmir problem. “Bullet cannot be an answer to a bullet. Bullet can be answered by patience, love and through dialogue. We should desist from that and hope India and Pakistan come to the dialogue table and a new phase of talks will resume so that this problem is resolved,” Abdullah said.
He said it was “imperative that an effort be made towards restoration of peace (in Kashmir). Both the countries should talk peace. There is no other option.” He said poor people in the state would be the worst affected by lack of tourism because of violence.
“Death and destruction should come to an end so that the people of Kashmir can live in peace. The tourism season is about to start and if this death and destruction continues, who will come here? Who is going to suffer because of that? It is the poor people here who depend on tourism,” he said.
That is talking sense, Mr Abdullah. Not breaking away from India and falling into a hell-hole called Pakistan.
“We have to take into account their (militants’) sentiments. What is the reason for their taking up arms? A high-level judicial commission should be constituted to look into what is compelling the youth to take up arms,” he said.
Referring to the warning of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth against interfering in anti-insurgency operations, Abdullah said “That is not right. That is unfortunate because if you have to address a problem, the solution does not lie in the gun but talks.”
Mr Abdullah, the solution does not also lie in the type of statements you make.