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Will keep moving SC till Article 370 is reinstated: Farooq Abdullah

Sep 24, 2024 05:05 AM IST

Farooq hit out at the BJP and termed the Centre’s decision as “unilateral” and “unjust” that heaped miseries on the people of Jammu and Kashmir

Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday reiterated that his party would continue to fight a legal battle for restoration of Article 370.

NC president Farooq Abdullah speaks to the media, in Rajouri. (ANI)
NC president Farooq Abdullah speaks to the media, in Rajouri. (ANI)

Campaigning for the party’s candidate Javaid Iqbal at Budhal, Farooq hit out at the BJP and termed the Centre’s decision as “unilateral” and “unjust” that heaped miseries on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP had stripped the contentious region of its special status by effectively abrogating Article 370, revoked its statehood, and bifurcated it into two Union territories on August 5, 2019.

“They (BJP) say a lot many things about Article 370. I would like to remind them that Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927 made a law when there was no Pakistan and Punjab had educated and rich people. Maharaja felt that if Punjabis come over to this side, then where will our land and people go? Our jobs and land will go. To protect the vast state and its people, he made a law which was later converted into Article 370,” Farooq said.

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“It’s a legal battle. If you see the first two Supreme Court judgments, those judgments called it (Article 370) as permanent and not temporary. We will repeatedly approach the Supreme Court and restore Article 370,” he asserted.

“The BJP claimed that Article 370 was the root cause of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. May I ask them and remind them that if it had been revoked five years ago then why terror attacks are still taking place,” Farooq added.

The veteran politician claimed that in the aftermath of revocation of Article 370, miseries were heaped upon the people. “What’s happening today, our lands being taken away and jobs snatched,” he said.

The former chief minister also drew attention to mining of natural resources which have been outsourced to contractors from outside Jammu and Kashmir. “Today, you can’t take a spoon of sand out of rivers because all contractors are from outside J&K. Similarly, outsiders have been employed in various projects. We have to end all this.”

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Omar Abdullah, the party’s vice-president, launched the manifesto which includes promises like the restoration of Article 370, 35-A and statehood, redrawing the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, and the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

Farooq further said that the land and its resources besides jobs belonged to the people of this region. “This is your land, you are its owner, jobs should be given to your children. It is our promise that if we are elected, we will provide one lakh jobs to the youth,” he said.

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He also assured that the NC government would provide 5,000 monthly assistance to destitute women, who have lost their husband and have none to look after them. “We will help all such women irrespective of caste, creed and religion. We don’t discriminate in the name of religion, region and caste,” he added.

In response to BJP’s accusations against the National Conference (NC) and Congress regarding attempts to end reservations for Gujjars and Paharis, Farooq said: “I want to ask the BJP that why the Paharis were given ST status ahead of the parliamentary elections and not earlier?

Farooq also questioned the discreet silence maintained by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adiytanath over the alleged rape of a Dalit woman in a temple in Ayodhya.

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