Srinagar : National Conference president and Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Dr Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said that just as the farmers struggled for almost a year and made sacrifices to get the three contentious farm laws repealed in Parliament, “we are ready to make sacrifices to take back our rights.”
Abdullah was addressing party workers at a youth convention for the birth anniversary of his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. Promising to continue the struggle for restoration of Article 370 and 35A, the party chief said, “In the last 11 months, more than 700 farmers died. They (central government) were forced to repeal the three farm bills when the farmers rendered sacrifices. We may also have to make sacrifices like that to take back our rights. Remember, we have promised to bring back articles 370, 35A and statehood, and we are ready to offer any sacrifice.”
Without mentioning or naming any specific party or leaders Abdullah raised many question for the government. “In Delhi, they talk about how tourism has increased. As if tourism is everything. What about the 50,000 jobs you promised? Where are those jobs? In fact, you are terminating those in service.”
The Srinagar MP also spoke about the pressure on media outlets, stating that if anyone writes anything “they don’t like, they are called to police stations.”
On the Hyderpora encounter, Abdullah said “three innocent men were killed” and their bodies were returned only after people came together and raised their voices. “However, the parents of one of them are still waiting for their son’s body. How many innocent people would they have killed in this manner? We will hold them accountable for these actions,” he said, while cautioning his party cadres against attempts by other parties to pull them away.
NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, provincial president (Kashmir) Nasir Aslam Wani and Youth NC president Salman Sagar attended the event. Political activity has picked up pace in J&K with the NC and the PDP holding events in different districts. Both Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti recently concluded visits to the Pir Panjal region.
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