‘Abdullahs, Cong responsible for present mess’
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Apr 30: Hitting out at the National Conference (NC) and its leadership, Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh today said as far as NC patriarch and former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah and his son and former CM, Omar Abdullah are in power, Kashmir is normal for them and when they are out of power, Kashmir becomes abnormal for both of them.
Dr Jitendra Singh while commenting on Omar Abdullah’s statement that situation deteriorated in Kashmir during last five years of Narendra Modi rule at Centre, said the assessment made by former Chief Minister is not based on objectivity but on political opportunism.
Talking to media persons here today before leaving for Union Capital on his way back from Gurdaspur (Punjab), Dr Jitendra Singh lashed out at NC leadership saying the present situation in Valley is outcome of Congress –NC political manipulations. Beginning from independence to now, NC played politics of self sustenance and opportunism. It resorted to exploiting innocent people of Kashmir for different reasons depending upon its convenience, he added.
Turning tables on NC leadership and holding it fully responsible for present crisis in Valley, he said the first trigger of militancy was rigging of Assembly elections by NC and Congress combine in 1987. Instead of blaming others the NC leadership should have a deep introspection as Dr Farooq Abdullah is responsible for giving Kashmir to militants including Yasin Malik, JKLF chief and Syed Sallah-ud-Din, chief of Hizbul Mujahideen now in Pakistan, Dr Jitendra Singh added.
He said not only this but NC politics of silence when minority Pandits a nationalist community was hounded out from Valley in 1989-90 suited their politics. He said NC leader who blames five years of Narendra Modi Government must know that it is Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah duo who is responsible for encouraging Pak sponsored terrorist activities by going to the extent of attacking security forces and taking side of militants.
“Both Dr Abdullah and Omar Abdullah owe to explain how they maintained silence when one of their Lok Sabha candidates shouted pro Pak slogans” while addressing election rallies, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said even on the eve of present elections, Omar Abdullah is talking of separate Prime Minister for the State of J&K while his grand father and founder of NC Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah had meekly accepted the nomenclature of Chief Minister in 1975. Omar Abdullah is trying to reverse position of his grandfather to mislead the Kashmiri masses for electoral gains.
Asking Omar Abdullah that before targeting Modi Government he should know that one of the turning points in militancy in Kashmir was when one of the NC workers was mysteriously killed at the official residence of CM.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that before blaming Modi Government, Omar Abdullah must explain whether he still stands by NC’s earlier stand taken by Sheikh Abdullah in support of plebiscite and pre 1953. “It is because of oft changing stance of the NC leadership that Kashmir has landed into present mess.”
He said that “Jamhooriyat”, “Kashmiriyat” and “Insaniyat” were eroded by none else but the Kashmir’s ruling dynasties which perpetuated family rule under the garb of democracy.
He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that his Government is committed to follow Atal Behari Vajpayee’s approach of “Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat and Insaniyat” in Kashmir and accused the Kashmir-centric so-called mainstream political parties of working against the spirit of democracy. He said, political parties whose leaders have learnt to become MPs and MLAs with less than 10% polling, do not have any right to remind BJP about Vajpayee’s concept and commitment to “Jamhooriyat”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, if the Kashmir-centric so called mainstream political parties were truly sincere about “Jamhooriyat” (democracy), they would have facilitated free, fair and mass participation in elections, but they deliberately avoided that, so that they could be the beneficiaries of minuscule vote percentage and thus carry on with their family rule from one generation to the other.
As for Kashmiriyat, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the political parties of Kashmir which are responsible for the mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley resulting in ethnic cleansing, cannot claim any credentials to refer to “Kashmiriyat” which is essentially and traditionally characterized by the composite culture for which Kashmir was known all over the world. He said, those who are guilty of either conniving or maintaining a convenient silence to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandit community are, in fact, the greatest sinners against Kashmiriyat.
As for Insaniyat, Dr Jitendra Singh accused the Kashmir-centric leaders of inflicting greatest assault on “Insaniyat” when they instigate the children of poor Kashmiris to get killed as stone-pelters or during crossfire, whereas their own children are comfortably lodged in safe havens in some of India’s best metros and abroad. These double standards, he said, have not only wounded three generations of Kashmiri children, but have stigmatized the very virtue of “Insaniyat” for which at one point in time, Kashmir used to pride itself.
Dr Jitendra Singh also asked Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi who is presenting himself as Prime Ministerial candidate, to come clean on his citizenship issue.
He said it is not only the issue of electoral politics but of ethics also. He said in case the Congress leader does not come clean, people’s trust in the democracy will get eroded as they have already lost faith in Congress.
While commenting on the allegations levelled by opposition parties on EVMs, Dr Jitendra Singh said they did not blame EVMs when they won elections in Punjab, Karnataka, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh but are now finding fault in them because they see their defeat is imminent. The modern democracies world over are opting for EVMs by giving up the procedure of paper ballot. The latest example in this regard is Bangladesh, he added.
He said every day the technology is going for improvisation and if the opposition has any suggestion that should be improvisation and not reverting back to old form. It is also the defeatist mindset of Akhlesh Yadav of SP and Mayawati of BSP who said if they lost Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will be responsible for the same. This shows that they have foreseen their imminent defeat, he added.
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