NEW DELHI : Separatists amalgam Hurriyat Conference does not know what it wants to talk with the Centre for a resolution of the Kashmir issue, opines Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Talking about the priorities before the new Government at the ‘Google hangout’, Omar said Hurriyat Conference was becoming “a little stingy” with the truth when they observe that peace has become the enemy of the resolution of Kashmir issue.
The Chief Minister was replying to questions about the claims made by Hurriyat Conference that during NDA rule, the Centre had talked to various stakeholders to find a resolution.
“In this case, Hurriyat has become a little stingy with the truth. The fact of the matter is that Hurriyat was asked to come forward with what they are looking for from the dialogue process. They had a round of discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“They (Hurriyat leaders) were asked to come forward to what they are looking for — achievable and not theoretical possibilities. They promised to come back to Government of India, this is what i have been told. They promised to come back but they never did,” Omar said.
He said, therefore, part of the responsibility lies at the door of the next Government but part lies with the Hurriyat Conference as well.
Omar, however, said Hurriyat “simply doesn’t know what it is they want to talk to Government of India for.”
About the State, he said the statistics speak for themselves as there have been no ‘ramzan ceasefire’ calls during his tenure and militancy-related killings have come down drastically.
On Article 370, Omar said his party National Conference will never allow any dilution of this Act which links the state with the rest of the country.
He said Article 370 had nothing to do with buying of property in the State. “Buying of land is matter of State subject which was started from the time of Maharaja as people in Jammu feared that there lands will be taken over by rich people from Punjab.
“Surprisingly, such a law is there in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the country,” he said.
On Afzal Guru issue in wake of the recent Supreme Court verdict in which death sentence of some people has been converted to life imprisonment, Omar said Afzal Guru will be a sore point for some time now.
“The way the judgement was carried out — it is a sore point. Well it makes one wonder whether justice is as blind as it is supposed to be. This is clearly an issue that will remain alive. I understand that the time line that those people have been on death row was longer than Afzal Guru was but then and (Davinder Singh) Bhullar has a mental issues but none of that takes away the fact that Afzal Guru was jumped up the queue and executed.”
He said personally he was not in favour of death penalty. “I don’t believe this country needs to have death penalty. I believe the way in which we are using death penalty is itself the worst possible argument for having death penalty and life in prison for rest of one’s natural life, I think is a far better punishment than death penalty that in anyways is a sort of subject to these sort of whims.” (AGENCIES)
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