Cornered Farooq’s new spin to Hurriyat rant; claims 10 PDP MLAs wanted to join NC

Abdullah preparing ground to contest LS by-election?

ST Special Correspondent
JAMMU: Cornered over his bonhomie with secessionist Hurriyat Conference, unrelenting National Conference supremo and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday triggered yet another political storm by claiming that 10 PDP MLAs were ready to join the NC but he refused to welcome them.
Interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of a private function at Bathindi here, Dr Abdullah said, “Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had made a statement in Srinagar alleging National Conference was destabilising alliance government but I want to convey her that 10 PDP MLAs were ready to join NC but I refused to entertain them”.
“I told them clearly I don’t entertain this kind of ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram politics”, he said, adding, “I can’t even disclose their names before mediapersons but I am telling you they wanted to join NC”.
Referring to Mehbooba Mufti’s statement, Dr Abdullah said that he has heard her saying NC can go to any extent to grab power and added, “I want to tell her it was her father late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who always played the game of buying and selling MLAs. Even in 2002 when we had 28 MLAs and PDP had 16, he tried to buy our MLAs. We don’t believe in turncoats”. He threw challenge to Mehbooba Mufti to prove that Farooq Abdullah had ever bought or sold even a single MLA”.
Despite being slammed for his remarks backing Hurriyat Conference, an unfazed Abdullah remained unapologetic for the controversial comments and said the people of the State are united for the final settlement of the long-pending dispute.
“Why should I apologise, he replied when asked by reporters here whether he regrets making the remarks asking his party cadres to support separatist Hurriyat Conference.
Ironically, Hurriyat has brushed aside the observations of National Conference President with a stinging laugh. According to David Devadas a well known journalist, commentator, documentary film-maker and author of “The story of Kashmir, a book on the Kashmir dispute”, Hurriyat Conference has cynically responded to Farooq Abdullah’s statement. In his column in Firstpost David writes, “I was sitting with a couple of ranking Hurriyat Conference leaders the evening after Abdullah’s statement. One of them remarked with a cynical smile that Abdullah was preparing the ground to contest Lok Sabha by-election in spring. By-polls are due for the Srinagar and Anantnag seats – the latter vacated by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti (and former by Tariq Hameed Karra) .
Abdullah said people of the State want a final settlement to Kashmir dispute as it is they who are dying on both the sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB).
“Don’t you want a settlement or do you want bombing on the border all the time? Do you want the innocent people to die? It is the citizen of Kashmir that is dying on both the sides of the border and we are united as we want a final settlement of the dispute”, he added.
Abdullah said for an amicable solution, the government of India needs to hold talks with Pakistan besides all the stakeholders in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
“How will you resolve the Kashmir issue without talking to Pakistan? The two countries have to talk to each other. The Centre also needs to hold talks with all the stakeholders in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to find an amicable solution to the issue”, he said.
Abdullah said while the BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir was holding talks with everybody including Hurriyat, he was being targeted for advocating holding of dialogues.
Why are they blaming me? The ruling alliance PDP-BJP is holding talks with everybody. Their agenda of alliance also says that talks need to be held with Hurriyat also, he said.
Addressing his party workers at a function to commemorate the 111th birth anniversary of his father and party founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in Srinagar three days back, Abdullah had asked the Hurriyat leaders not to go separate ways.
“Be united and we are also standing with you. Do not think of us as your enemies, we are not. But we are not ready to tread the wrong path. So, I am telling you from this sacred place that you (Hurriyat) move forward, we are with you till your steps are on the right track and till you take this nation forward in a right manner,” he said.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has slammed Abdullah for the remarks, saying National Conference can go to any extent for the sake of gaining power in the state.
To a question, Abdullah insisted that his remark was never anti-national and he wanted the dialogue process to start.
“Why do you say anti-India sentiment? Why do you blame Farooq Abdullah only? The government that is ruling today in Jammu and Kashmir of BJP and PDP has put in their Agenda of Alliance that Hurriyat has to be talked to.
“So are they anti-national? If BJP and PDP are saying that they (Hurriyat) have to be talked to, then they cannot be talking to anti-nationals. They must be nationalists that is why they are talking too,” the former Chief Minister said.
He said all the stake holders, whether on the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, have to be talked to.
“Here, India has to talk to all political parties whether in Jammu or Kashmir or Ladakh. There (on Pakistani side), they have to talk to people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Baltistan, Skardu and Gilgit, he said.
With regard to his comment about being with the Hurriyat, Abdullah said, “We are united because we want final settlement of the state. Don’t make a mistake about it, the settlement has not taken place. We want to talk to central government and what is wrong in it?
When pointed out that the Modi government has maintained that talks can be held only under the ambit of the Constitution of India, Abdullah said, “Unconditional talks have to be held. How will you hold talks with Pakistan? Are you going to tell them to talk under Indian Constitution? When Shimla Agreement or Tashkent or Lahore Agreement was signed, it was not signed under the Constitution of India.”
He said he was not worried about people filing cases against him.
Rejecting the allegation that National Conference had a role in the present unrest, Abdullah said that neither he nor any worker of his party had ever pelted a stone or were involved in any bomb attack.
Did she forget that NC has suffered the most causality of its leaders and workers? NC workers don t pelt stones or throw bombs, he said.
On the statement of Hurriyat leaders asking the tourists to visit Kashmir, Abdullah said any normal citizen of Jammu and Kashmir would want the tourists to visit the valley as tourism was the backbone of the economy of the State.