Srinagar: Striking an emotional chord with his ancestral support base, Farooq Abdullah Wednesday said New Delhi was hounding out his party National Conference for its revolutionary past. “They (New Delhi) know that National Conference has given blood in the past to protect the interests of this State. We are the only hurdle in their path and that is why they have all come together to oppose NC,” Farooq Abdullah said adding that “the staunch ideological roots” of National Conference can defeat “their nefarious designs”.
Farooq Abdullah said that recent remarks from quarters no less in power than the Prime Minister’s Office about the abrogation of Article 370 were serious indicators of troubles ahead of us. “We will have to stand up to this challenge by identifying the enemy within our State, an enemy that is actively collaborating with anti-J&K lobbies for a chance at power. We cannot be cowed down by any secret pacts or covert alliances. We represent the resilience of this nation. We are Kashmir and Kashmir is us”, Farooq said as NC workers raised slogans in favor of National Conference and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
Trying to lift the sagging morale of his cadres, who saw NC’s historic rout in recent parliamentary elections, Farooq said, “Those who think that one poll debacle will dampen our spirits should take a look at the pages of history. Our spirits were not dampened when they sent Sheikh Sahib to prison for 24 years; our spirits were not dampened when they toppled democratically elected governments in J&K; our spirits were not dampened when thousands of NC workers and hundreds of our leaders were killed in cold blood to weaken the voice of Kashmiri nationalism.” “They,” Farooq went on to say, “would be foolish to think that our spirits are dampened now. We will rise from the ashes and script a comeback befitting our place in history and the role that we envision for our party in the future of this nation.”
The president of National Conference Farooq Abdullah was speaking at a function to commemorate the death anniversaries of veteran NC leaders Late Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg and Late Khwaja Ghulam Mohuiddin Shah at the party headquarters in Srinagar.
Farooq Abdullah further said there was a concerted attempt under process to change the demographic character of the State. Farooq said that vested interests who had nurtured a longstanding desire to break the spine of Kashmiri identity and Kashmiri Nationalism were coming together to wage a war against National Conference.
Farooq Abdullah claimed the destiny of this State and that of its brave, resilient people was intertwined with the destiny of National Conference. “We safeguarded the aspirations of our people when those who are shedding crocodile tears today were the biggest collaborators in the erosion of Article 370. Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah spent 24 years in prison when others were falling over each other to earn the spoils of treachery. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was one among these opportunists when he was Sadiq’s trusted lieutenant at a time when Sadiq sold the special status of J&K to New Delhi”, Farooq Abdullah added.
Addressing party workers, activists and office bearers at Nawa-e-Subah, Farooq Abdullah said that the slogan “Jis Kashmir Ko Khoon Se Seencha Woh Kashmir Humara Hai” (The Kashmir nurtured with blood is only ours) embodies the history of National Conference and it is this slogan that National Conference will strive for till the last NC worker was standing to safeguard the dignity of our people..
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