revocation-of-statehood-was-illegal-farooq-abdullah

National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah has said that the revocation of statehood from Jammu and Kashmir was illegal and demanded its early restoration.

 

During a public address titled ‘Statehood Now,’ which was organised by the forum of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the Governor did not understand the law at the time of the move, which he had admitted in an interview.

 

Abdullah said, “Those in power think we will bow and kneel before them, but they are wrong; we are not here to bend. It is our right as citizens of this country, a right given by the Constitution of India. What you have done is illegal.”

 

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir rejected Pakistan despite having a common faith. We said no, not that side, but rather Gandhi’s side. I wish those leaders would wake up from their graves and see what India we have joined. Where are we going?” he said.

 

“The real reason is that there is no trust in Muslims. I don’t know when that trust will come…this is the sad part. When will you consider us as humans? When will you treat us as Indians? I am a Muslim; I will live as a Muslim, and I will die as a Muslim but I am an Indian Muslim not a Pakistani. The entire fight is on this,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, similar comments were made by the CPI (M) MLA MY Tarigami, who said, what crime the people of Jammu and Kashmir committed that the statehood was snatched?

 

He said there was nothing to agree on with the Supreme Court's verdit surrounding Article 370. “You made Kashmir a jail and took a decision for us. This is not what the constituent assembly imagined,” he said.

 

Politician and activist from Kargil, Sajjad Kargili, said, “On August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir was split forcefully, it was said the aspirations of the people of Ladakh have been considered. In the past six years, no aspirations of the people of Ladakh have been fulfilled,” he alleged.

 

The debate surrounding the restoration of Article 370 has intensified in Jammu and Kashmir with the Congress party’s campaign demanding statehood for the UT.