Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Apr 28: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has no courage and won’t dare to visit Kashmir to seek votes for his candidates.
While addressing a press conference this evening at his residence, Omar said: “Modi sahib, you do not have the courage to come to Kashmir. You won’t come here to seek votes for your candidates. You will come to Ladakh, Jammu and other parts of the country but not Kashmir. You have set out to become the Prime Minister of the country but you will not come to Kashmir for seeking votes.”
“You won’t dare to come to Kashmir because the ideas you have for this place, the way you have tried to defame people, I don’t think you will have any place in their hearts,” Chief Minister said.
Omar said that Modi has no knowledge of happening in Kashmir. “He has no guts to come to Kashmir. He doesn’t know what the hell is going here. How would he come to campaign for the candidates which he has fielded here. They must be feeling orphaned as no senior leader has turned up to campaign for them”, he added.
Asked if he is throwing a challenge to Modi, Chief Minister said the last time he challenged the BJP leader for a debate on Article 370, he chose to shy away. “I was told I am not of his stature. So, Who am I to challenge him! I am just stating a fact,” he said
On Modi’s statement about Abdullah family, Omar said he and his father Farooq Abdullah were thankful to the BJP leader for elevating the latter to this stature. “So far, whenever Modi had to target someone, barring one or two persons, he has used other leaders for this purpose. However, this time he chose to issue a statement himself. We, especially Farooq Sahib, are thankful to him,” he added. He said Abdullah’s reaction to Modi’s statement was: “See I am once again a national leader.”
The Chief Minister said that Modi’s statement on exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir is an insult to Kashmiri people. “Majority of Kashmiri Muslims are pained at the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and want them to come back. Modi has insulted the people of Kashmir by his statement. By targeting Farooq, he has targeted every Kashmiri,” he said.
Omar said that Modi giving lecture on secularism is strange. “I feel it is weird that Modi giving a lecture on secularism to people of Kashmir. We don’t need certificate of secularism from Modi. When we start getting secularism certificate from Modi, then I should resign from politics.”
Chief Minister said that people of Kashmir do not need a lesson on secularism from BJP or Modi. “People of Kashmir gave a living example of secularism in 1947 when Muslims and Hindus were killing each other,” he added.
Omar said that it is the single place where Mahatma Gandhi saw a ray of secularism. “We gave slogan of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh unity here”, he added.
Chief Minister said that Kashmir is not a communal State. “It has taught tolerance. When we talk of Kashmiriyat, it is an example of secularism”, he added.
Chief Minister said the Amarnath Yatra, about which the BJP leaders often make noises, is facilitated by Kashmiri Muslims. He said that lakhs of people come to Amarnath yatra every year and it is the best example of secularism.
Omar said Modi had a problem of distorting history to suit his own ends. “When Kashmiri Pandits left the valley, Jagmohan, who has not parted ways with BJP yet as far as I know, was ruling the State. Farooq Sahib was not in power. Jagmohan was appointed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was in the Home Minister in V P Singh Cabinet. V P Singh was heading the Government with BJP support … I hope they remember this,” he added
Chief Minister said BJP was only using the pain of Kashmiri Pandits for political mileage and Modi’s speech at a poll rally in Jammu was evidence of that. “Modi remembered every community in his speech but forgot the Kashmiri Pandits”, he added.
Targeting local BJP on the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, Omar said: “You have to see what the BJP MLAs did when the Shrine Bill was tabled in the State Assembly early this year,” he added.
Asked if he agreed with Abdullah’s statement about those voting for Modi should drown in sea, Omar said it was said in the context of a BJP leader telling opponents of the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate to go to Pakistan.”It is for the Election Commission to take a decision on it,” he said.
Chief Minister said there is nothing wrong in his father saying that Kashmir will not be part of a communal India. “He is not stupid. He did not say Kashmir will not be part of India if Modi becomes the Prime Minister. He said Kashmir will not be part of a communal India and I don’t see anything wrong in that,” he added.
Omar said that Modi understands that part of history which suits to him. “He doesn’t not even no full name of Mahatma Gandhi”, he added.
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