Will not die until rights of my people are restored: Farooq Abdullah

Jammu: Addressing his party workers in Jammu for the first time in over a year, a visibly emotional Farooq Abdullah on Friday said he won’t die until constitutional rights of the people of the erstwhile state are restored.The National Conference (NC) president also assailed the BJP for “misleading the country” and making “false promises” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well as those in Ladakh.”I will not die until the rights of my people are given back…. I am here to do something for the people and the day I will finish my work, I will leave this world,” Abdullah told NC workers who packed the Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here ahead of a scheduled meeting of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) on Saturday.It was 84-year-old Abdullah’s first political meeting in Jammu since the abrogation of Article 370, which accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status, and bifurcation of the state into union territories in August last year.Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), formed the PAGD last month for the restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state as it existed before August 5 last year and also to initiate a dialogue between all stakeholders on the issue.Abdullah, accompanied by his son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah, arrived here this afternoon, their first visit to the region in over a year.The Abdullahs, along with other political leaders in Kashmir, were detained under the Public Safety Act and released this year.Farooq Abdullah, the sitting parliamentarian from Srinagar and a former chief minister, said his party had never differentiated between Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir and always considered them a single entity.”We have never thought that Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir are separate from each other. We could not be able to take the people of these regions on board at the time of the formation of the PAGD due to the urgency of the situation and now we are here,” Abdullah said.He said the parties have joined hands to pitch for the restoration of the Article 370, Article 35A and throw away the “black laws” which were implemented in Jammu and Kashmir beyond Lakhanpur — the gateway to the erstwhile state bordering Punjab. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday accused the BJP of using Kashmiri Pandits as vote bank and said the community is still waiting for their return and rehabilitation in the valley.Abdullah also said that the real development in Jammu and Kashmir would come when there will be a people’s government.”For 28 years, they are saying that Kashmiri Pandits will be taken back to their homes in the valley. They are in power for more than five years but they are still waiting for the day of their return,” Abdullah said addressing his party workers at a jam-packed Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here.He accused the BJP of spreading hatred among communities and asked “how long will you use them as vote bank”.”You have always used them,” Abdullah, who arrived in Jammu for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into union territories in August last year, said.”People are the real fountain of power. When there will be elections, bring forth the people who can help the masses and are not self-centric, he said, adding the real development will come to J-K when there will be people’s government and all rights of the people restored.” Asserting that the National Conference is not “anti-national”, he said those who are hurling such wild allegations should check their vision.”We are not the ones whom you could buy or make them to tear apart their clothes,” he said, referring to a BJP leader who tore his shirt to claim that he is a nationalist to the core.”How many more you will buy (in J&K). I know there are some elements in NC as well. I have seen a lot (in politics) and the day is not far when another group will come and they will buy you as well,” he said.He asked the party workers to remain steadfast and united to thwart such conspiracies.”We have to remain cautious as they are trying to divide us on the basis of religion and region…. This nation is strong as people from different backgrounds, regions, climates and languages are one. A Madrassi, a Bengali, a Maratha who are not habitual to below 30 degrees Celsius is guarding Ladakh sector in minus 30 degrees Celsius,” he said, adding “we are together and one because of our nation”.He said the BJP cannot be “my master and I am not afraid of them.Asking his party workers to be patient in the face of abuse by opponents, he said they can burn his effigy and abuse him because it is a weapon of the weak and the strong replies with patience and a smile.”As long as your party is strong, nobody can force you down, he said, asking people not to worry though there will be attempts to create confusion and divide them.”Those who are accusing us of being Pakistanis are in reality the ones who are supporting Pakistan. If something wrong happens, they would be the first to chant Pakistani slogans, he said.He said National Conference workers do not tear clothes to demonstrate nationalism.Abdullah also appealed to the people of Jammu not to burst firecrackers on Diwali festival to reduce air pollution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.