Why is Farooq Abdullah singing autonomy song so loudly?
Farooq Abdullah has been very active in advocating autonomy as the only solution to the Kashmir problem. He is perhaps privy to the developments behind the scene between India and Pakistan which have resulted in appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as new interlocutor. The reaction to his autonomy pitch by Yasin Malik is the reaction of separatists camp who want complete freedom. Both Farooq and Umar have been criticising Hurriyat for their products Pakistan stand.
Former Chief Minister and President of National Conference Farooq Abdullah suggested to both India and Pakistan that they should accept the realities of the present times and start the process of dialogue to give maximum autonomy to both parts of Kashmir and that is the only solution according to him for the present Kashmir mess.
Farooq blamed New Delhi for the present alienation among the people of Jammu and Kashmir and said that they should stop playing games of deceit with people and initiate serious steps to address the issue and address the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that alienation with New Delhi is complete in Kashmir and no lip service or sending of interlocutors can change this reality. “Prime Minister Modi should announce bold steps to resolve Kashmir issue and have a big heart and give Kashmiris back what successive Central Governments have sanctioned from them. It is not like any other state. We have only acceded to India on some conditions and 1952 Agreement between New Delhi and J&K is the bedrock to start serious talks for the resolution of Kashmir dispute”, Farooq said.
He cautioned both India and Pakistan that they cannot keep people of Jammu and Kashmir hostage to their enmity and ego. He said that they should make the borders between two parts of Kashmir irrelevant and allow people to have contact with each other. “New Delhi cannot take back PoK and Pakistan cannot take this part of Kashmir. I am very forthright. Let them have more wars still this will be the reality so the good sense will prevail on both the countries and they will give us maximum internal freedom and resolve this issue”, said Farooq.
Calling the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma an official representative of Government of India for sustained dialogue as exercise in futility, Farooq said that there is no need for any talks or interlocutors. “When I was having two third majorities in J&K Assembly we have passed autonomy resolution in the year 2000. If Prime Minister Modi is sincere, he should take this resolution passed by J&K Assembly to the parliament for debate”, he said.
He blamed RSS and BJP for playing deceitful games in Jammu and Kashmir even to take away whatever is left in the form of internal freedom for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that court case on Article 35(A) and challenges to the Article 370 clearly show that Nagpur and BJP government have evil designs against the internal freedom of people of Jammu and Kashmir and cautioned them that Farooq will be the on the streets along with his supporters against such games.
Taking a dig on the Hurriyat and separatists, Farooq said that Azadi or complete freedom can never be achieved as Kashmir according to him is land locked and have three countries India, China and Pakistan on its borders. He criticized Prime Minister Modi for his recent utterances against the restoration of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir as advocated by former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Farooq said that restoration of autonomy was our right and Modi should not call us anti-nationals for such demands.
