STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Opposition National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said “politics of hate” is the biggest threat to unity of nation, and asked its propagators to stay away from Jammu and Kashmir.
He also cautioned people against “communal polarisation” ahead of panchayat elections in the state.
“There is no threat to any religion. If there is a danger at all, it is ‘politics of hate’, which has been serving as a shield to communal elements,” Abdullah said at a meeting of senior party leaders at NC headquarters here.
He asked the believers of hate politics to keep off from Jammu and Kashmir, a state he said was a “shining example of amity and communal harmony”.
Seeking mass participation in the upcoming panchayat elections, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir cautioned against “machinations of divisive forces which may try to vitiate the atmosphere by engineering communal divide”.
Terming the panchayat polls as crucial for strengthening democracy at grass-root level in the state, Abdullah exhorted the party cadre to gear up for the “big challenge”.
“Notwithstanding the spirit of Panchayati Raj system having been trampled by the PDP-BJP dispensation by amending the Panchayat Raj Act, 1989, the National Conference believes panchayats as engines of political empowerment of people,” he said.
He referred to the amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, with regard to indirect election of sarpanch, claiming that it would weaken the system and give rise to manipulations.
During the meeting, senior state and provincial level and district functionaries, former ministers, former and sitting legislators spoke on the occasion and gave an overview of the political scenario and preparations being made for the Panchayati elections. Mostly the speakers expressed concern over clandestine delimitation of Panchayts, saying composition of wards is being manipulated to suit the political interests of the coalition partners. They, however, exuded confidence that the manipulations won’t deter the people to choose right people for Panchayats, which will be a befitting reply to the ruling dispensation.
Dr Farooq Abdullah released the latest edition of “Aatsh-e-Chinar”, autobiography of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah.