Jammu, September 19: National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the release of terrorists in exchange for Rubaiya Saeed in 1989 and the seizure of an Air India plane in Afghanistan in 1999 were responsible for the growth of terrorism in the region.
Abdullah had responded to PM Modi’s remarks at a campaign rally in Srinagar earlier in the day, accusing the Indian National Congress, the Congress and the People’s Democratic Party of “destroying” Jammu and Kashmir.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said people should be thankful that the Nepali Congress was there during the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, else the Muslim-majority state would have become a part of Pakistan.
The Nepali Congress president was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an election rally in support of party candidate Sunil Verma in Udhampur East while opposing the BJP-led government’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ plan and accusing the party of spreading hatred in the country.
Asked about the Prime Minister’s statement in Srinagar accusing the three big families (Indian National Congress, Congress and People’s Democratic Party) of destroying Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah asked who released hardcore terrorists in Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 1999 in exchange for hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814 and kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Interior Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in 1989.
Rubaiya is the sister of Peoples Democratic Party chairperson Mehbooba Mufti.
“Who was the one who put the pressure when I told them not to do it (release terrorists)? The terrorists who were released then are now carrying out terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan. I told them then that they were responsible for our destruction but no one listened and now they are putting the blame on us – the Congress and the NC,” Abdullah said.
He said people should be grateful to the Nepali Congress for being in Jammu and Kashmir during the partition. “Had we not been there, Jammu and Kashmir would have become a part of Pakistan as it is a Muslim-majority region. Instead, we preferred to follow the Gandhi-Nehru path and be a part of India where all citizens – Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Buddhist – are equal.”
Abdullah said they claimed that terrorism had ended but the ground situation showed that terrorist activities had increased in the previously peaceful Jammu region.
“They have been opening the door of hate and we have to close it. (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi said we have to close the door of hate and open the door of love. I say we have to sink the car of hate and start the car of love across the country,” he said.
“We are the crown of India and a new dawn (against hatred) will emerge from here,” the Congress leader said, expressing confidence of winning the upcoming assembly elections and forming the next government in Jammu and Kashmir.
When asked about his reaction to the BJP-led government’s ‘one nation, one election’ plan, he said he would not contest elections in the country.
“You listen when Parliament debates a country, an election. I want to know, if the government falls anywhere in the country, will it be ruled by the president until the next election?
“How will this work? Let them make it clear to us in Parliament what they mean by this. How will they maintain the federal structure?” he said.
Continuing with its ‘one nation, one election’ plan, the Union government of India on Wednesday accepted the recommendation of a high-level panel to hold elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies simultaneously in a phased manner after building consensus across the country.
Asked about the BJP’s claim that it will form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir, he said: “They are building castles in the air.”
“First, let’s see who will win the elections…Have they won the hearts of the people of Jammu?” he asked, enquiring what they have done for Jammu.
He said people were losing their land and suffering from inflation while outsiders, civil and police officials were being appointed to top posts, while local officials who had governed the state for seven decades were being ignored.
When asked about Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s statement that Pakistan and the NC-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir were on the same page on restoration of Article 370, he said: “I don’t know what Pakistan is saying because I am not a Pakistani. I am an Indian citizen.”
He said that if his party forms the government, he will revive the practice of ‘Operation Darbar’, under which the government used to function in Srinagar and Jammu for six months in summer and winter respectively. The LG government stopped the practice in June 2021.
Abdullah said the 149-year-old custom was started by the Dogra rulers and it had become a bond between the two regions but “they have destroyed” it.
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