Former Minister and senior Congress leader, Raman Bhalla said these kind of statements are not expected from senior leaders like Farooq Abdullah, as they reflect their pro-separatist thinking.
Bhalla said that Congress leaders have given sacrifice for the freedom of this country and we will always keep on fighting for the cause of the nation.
He held PDP-BJP coalition government responsible for the present mess in Kashmir and said that they encourage the stone-pelters and terrorists by giving compensation to the families of terrorists. On one hand, the government gives compensation to sympathizers of terrorists but on the other hand, they have nothing for the families of martyrs, who make supreme sacrifices in Kashmir while safeguarding the integrity of nation, Bhalla added.
Terming his statement as anti-national, BJP State President Sat Sharma said tall leaders like Dr. Farooq Abdullah should not try to demoralise the security forces. If he (Farooq) wants to carry forward Hurriyat agenda, then he should completely give up his security, Sat Sharma added.
Sharma further said that these statements show his craving to be in the headlines. It is heartening that instead of educating children, these leaders are polarising youth of Kashmir to follow their anti-national agenda, he added.
Sharma said that he will request the government to initiate action against these leaders, who carry out anti-national agenda in the society.
Condemning Dr. Abdullah’s statement, former President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry YV Sharma said, “We are living in a very sensitive State and such provocative statements are not acceptable.”
He emphasised that politicians should always give statements which are in the interest of the nation.
Condemning the statement given by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, President, Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Abhinav Sharma said the statement is against the national interest. These statements are issued by so-called Kashmiri leaders, who are not in power, and wanted to appease the Hurriyat and separatists to gain political mileage, he added.
Senior Advocate, M.K Bhardwaj said that these statements are not expected from leaders like Dr. Abdullah.
He further said that people of this country expect nationalistic statements from political leaders, who are considered role models by many youth in Kashmir. The statement of Dr. Abdullah is not in good taste and the whole county has disliked his statement, he added.
Bhardwaj said that it is the responsibility of political leaders to show the right path to the youth of the nation and refrain from issuing provocative statements.
Chief Spokesperson, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Ravinder Sharma termed the statement by Dr. Abdullah as highly objectionable and said it is unfortunate that a person of his stature who in the past had held very important positions has made such an irresponsible statement.
Sharma said that warning signals are emanating from the Valley indicating a very grim situation there and expressed concern over the increased attacks and causalities of Army and Security forces.
He appealed the youth not to confront and attack the forces dealing with militants, in order to avoid the loss of innocent lives and don’t pay heed to such kind of statements.
Flaying the statement given by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, MLA RS Pura Dr. Gagan Bhagat held National Conference (NC) responsible for the present unrest in Kashmir and said that statements like these will only lead to worsening of Kashmir situation.
Dr. Bhagat further said that Dr. Abdullah has not given statements like this for the first time. NC has lost its ground in Kashmir now and they are resorting to these strategies to gain public support and sympathy. This is just a trick to regain lost vote bank, the MLA added.
He said that NC wants to keep this environment of unrest alive in Kashmir for their personal gains and to keep their political business flourishing. This is their plan to sabotage the peace process in Kashmir, he stressed.
Dr. Bhagat said that opportunistic NC leaders speak different language when they are in power and take different tone when they are in opposition. They want poor youth of Kashmir to either pick up guns or pelt stones on security forces but never want them to gain knowledge and get educated, Dr. Bhagat added.
President Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) Sunil Dimple said Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and statements like these will not have any impact on the State. Such statements lower the stature of a politician like Dr. Abdullah, three generations of whose family, have ruled the State for so many years, Dimple added.
He is giving these statements just to be in the limelight and garner vote bank for the ensuing parliamentary elections on two seats in Kashmir and reflect the pro-separatist agenda of his party, Dimple reiterated.
Condemning the statement given by NC President Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Chairman, All Jammu Hoteliers and Lodges Association (AJHLA) Inderjeet Khajuria said these anti-national statements don’t suit the stature of a politician like Dr. Abdullah who held very important portfolios both at the Centre and the State Government from time to time.
Khajuria argued that, “Why did Dr. Abdullah turned a blind eye to the problems of the Kashmiri youth, when his party was ruling the State?” Now, they have started feeling the pain of Kashmiri youth because they have lost the power that they used to enjoy, he added.
Dr. Abdullah is giving these provocative statements just to garner the support of the people of Kashmir Valley, as the parliamentary elections for two seats are round the corner in Kashmir, Khajuria pointed out.
“As far as the issue of picking up guns for the freedom of Kashmir is concerned, why did he (Farooq Abdullah) always misguides the local unemployed youth of Kashmir. Why does leaders like him don’t ask their sons and relatives to pick up guns?” Khajuria questioned.
Khajuria expressed his concern over the fact that these statements will affect the tourism influx in Jammu as well as Kashmir during ensuing Tourism season, starting from March.
While condemning the statement of former Union Minister and former State Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Senior Congress leader Namrta Sharma said that leaders like him are misguiding the youth of Kashmir for their petty political statements.
She appealed the youth to come forward and take part in peace process so that Kashmir can regain its lost glory.
Alleging that Dr. Farooq Abdullah gives statements to misguide the youth of Kashmir, senior PDP leader, Arun Sharma said, “When Dr. Farooq Abdullah is not in power, he always gives statements like this to remain in limelight but when he was in power, he always maintained good relations with Centre.”
As he (Farooq) was also one of the founding members of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), his view point matches the thinking of Hurriyat, PDP leader alleged.
Sharma further said that unless and until leaders like him are checked by the government, they will not shy away from spreading their anti-national agenda.
State President Kranti Dal, Pritam Sharma said the ‘Azadi’ slogan is the creation of National Conference in Kashmir.
Sharma criticised the NC for running their political business by keeping the future and lives of youth of Kashmir at stake. The role of an opposition in a democratic country is to highlight the areas where development is needed but instead of doing that, they are running the business of polarising the youth, he added.
He also asked NC supporters to come out and clear their stand on the statement given by their leader.
Reacting sharply to the statement of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, members of Movement for Peace, Equality and Justice (MPEJ) Kuldeep Kumar Rao and Ram Singh Chauhan questioned his contribution to solve the vexed problem of Kashmir during NC’s tenure in the State for about 40 years.
They further alleged that when Farooq Abdullah was in power, he vehemently remained busy in promoting that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. He didn’t leave any opportunity to harp that Kashmir problem needs to be solved politically once they remain out of power, they added.
They further said the language of political leaders like Dr. Farooq Abdullah differ when they are in power and when they are out of power. Such persons are not worth to be considered but to be thrown to dust and ashes. The poor Kashmiris have always been exploited by the Kashmiri politicians by playing with their sentiments.
They said that time is not far when people will drag these leaders down to streets and punish them openly like Muammar Gaddafi.
They appealed the public to see the writings on the wall and remain vigilant against the duplicity and double standards of politicians like Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Senior PDP leader, Sudarshan Singh said that BJP-PDP Coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir is working for the welfare of the people and is committed to equitable development of all the three regions which has become an eyesore for NC President Dr. Farooq Abdullah and that’s why he has started issuing such statements.
The leaders like him always give these statements to show their presence as when he was in power, he didn’t do anything for the welfare of youth and now, when he is out of power, he is behaving like a frustrated politician, Singh added.
Former Minister Gulchain Singh Charak said it is unfortunate that for the last 70 years, these types of statements have destroyed the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The political leaders resort to these kinds of methods to keep their politics alive, he added.
“A politician should give statements in the interest of the county which don’t harm the composite culture of the country. A leader is always a role model for the youth and they should restrain from issuing these kinds of statements which directly affect the mindset of the young generation,” he stressed.
BJP State General Secretary Dr. Narinder Singh demanded that National Conference leaders from Jammu should clear their stand on the statement given by their party president Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
He said that NC president has crossed all the limits of a responsible politician and is indulging in making such statements which are well planned and aimed at provoking the people of Kashmir. Dr. Abdullah’s utterances are an attempt to regain the lost faith and ground in Kashmir, he added.
He said, “One can’t understand that why the NC’s vocal leaders like Devender Rana have stitched their lips when Farooq Abdullah targets the Dogra rulers?”
On one hand, Dr. Abdullah has unleashed a provocative and anti-national campaign by defending the gun carrying youth but on the other hand, leaders from Jammu are trying to divert the attention of the people from his anti-national statements by raising the issue of region and religion, Singh added.
He reminded the NC leaders that except a handful of Pakistan supported people in the Valley, the entire population of all the three regions want peace and they don’t fight in the name of religion.
Singh further alleged that people are living in harmony but NC leaders are making attempts to divide them on the basis of region and religion and create hatred for own political survival.
He further said that the statements of Dr. Farooq Abdullah reflect the politics of opportunism. When NC is out of power, its leaders behave as the sympathisers of Pakistan but while in Chair, they miss no chance to favour tough action against Pakistan for providing launching pads to train terrorists and push them into Indian Territory of Kashmir, he added.
Singh said that Jammu based NC leaders should either seek apology from the people or leave the party to prove their concern for the honour of Dogra rulers and the nationalist forces in the State.
Former Chief, Bajrang Dal Sushil Sudan said Dr. Farooq Abdullah is well-aware of the fact that these statements make the situation tense in Kashmir but still, he never leaves any chance to appease the separatist and Hurriyat leaders in the Kashmir Valley.
Sudan said that Dr. Abdullah is uncomfortable as the BJP-PDP government is working towards ensuring peace and prosperity in the State. He appealed the BJP leadership at the Centre to take stern action against political leaders including Dr. Abdullah who try to destabilize the peace process by issuing these insensible statements.
Giving his comments on the statement of NC President Dr. Farooq Abdullah, BJP District President, Rajouri Narender Sharma said that Dr. Abdullah who took the oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India number of times, has sold his conscious and is now trying to appease the separatists but he should remember that they have categorically neglected him after properly studying his opportunist attitude.
Lambasting Dr. Farooq Abdullah for giving such insensible statement, Jammu and Kashmir Mandli Surya Gram Vikas Samiti President Jaseel Singh Salathia said Dr. Abdullah’s statement is the hard truth from his inner conscious which he had been suppressing for the last more than five decades enjoying the comforts in Kashmir.
State Director, Jammu and Kashmir War Decorated India Col (Retd) Virender Sahi condemned the statement given by former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah and said that Kashmir Valley has been undergoing a period of unrest after the neutralisation of terrorist Burhan Wani.
At such a juncture, political leaders like Dr. Farooq Abdullah are doing great harm to the cause of Kashmir by giving these provocative statements. He has gone beyond all limits by siding with Hurriyat and calling paid stone pelting boys “freedom fighters”.
Farooq is known for ding-dong statements; he also once suggested bombing of PoK terror camps and many times called Kashmir as integral part of India.
We may take him less seriously and we have a whole lot of Jammu leadership from both NC and Congress parties ‘silent’ about it.
