Jammu: Describing “hate” as a weapon to win elections in India, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday alleged that the BJP is spreading it to win the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh early next year.
Addressing party workers at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here at NC’s first major meeting in Jammu after the resignation of provincial president Devendra Singh Rana and former minister and party’s secretary Surjit Singh Salathia, Abdullah said efforts are made to destroy peace in the name of Hindu and Muslim.
Abdullah called upon people to fight hate to save Jammu and Kashmir as well as the country, and warned that if hatred continues to grow, India’s disintegration cannot be stopped.
“We have to fight communalism. We have to bring down the wall of hatred being created between Hindus and Muslims. We have to end this hatred. Without this, neither India survives nor this state (J&K). If we have to save India, we have to put an end to this hate,” Abdullah told his party workers here.
Abdullah accused the BJP of propagating the politics of hate and divide to win elections in UP. “Last election was also won in Balakote. The BJP government came to power. Today, they are doing the same thing. Today, they are again spreading hate even in Jammu to win elections in UP,” he said, referring to the Balakot air strike following the Pulwama attack in 2019.
“Has the Line (Line of Control) changed. Have we taken back any area from Pakistan? The line exists on the ground. They were instrumental in shooting down their own plan there,” he said.
Maintaining that the NC will save J&K from disintegration, he said that Jammu is the gateway to Kashmir and Kashmir is the gateway to Ladakh. “If they (BJP government) think they will break this state, I want to tell them: Beware, do not have this mindset. This country will not survive,” he said.
Abdullah warned the ruling party in Delhi that growing hatred can disintegrate India. “If this hatred continues to grow here, I want to tell those who are ruling in Delhi that beware, India will be disintegrated in parts that they cannot stop. They cannot save it.”
“Unless we have brotherhood here, nothing will happen. There is no threat from outside but from inside if brotherhood ends here. We don’t have threats from China and Pakistan. They cannot do anything as long we are strong here. So strengthen that brotherhood and make this part strong,” he added.
Without mentioning Devendra Singh Rana who joined BJP, Abdullah said that, “those raising Jammu bogey are actually fooling people.”
“People are wise enough to understand why people switch over and which benefits they are seeking,” he said.
Abdullah said that spreading hatred will only weaken the country, and peace can be brought in Jammu and Kashmir only by initiating dialogue and friendship with Pakistan.
Calls Ex-Guv Satpal A ‘Liar’
He also challenged former Governor Satya Pal Malik on statements over the Roshni Act and asked him to prove the allegations against him.
Abdullah said, “First he (Malik) lied to us that Article 370 will not be scrapped. It will continue. Later he said that the prime minister had told him that only Article 35-A will be removed, and not Article 370. He tells lies.”
“Stop lying Malik. Roshni scheme was started to build power projects in Jammu and Kashmir and the projects have also been made from the amount received under it,” he said adding that the aim of the Roshni scheme was to illuminate the homes of all the people of Jammu and Kashmir so that no child have to read under lamp.
In a video clip that has gone viral, Malik is purportedly seen claiming that the Abdullahs and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti had got plots of land under the Roshni scheme.
Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir when Article 370 was abrogated, now holds the gubernatorial post in Meghalaya.
The Roshni Act was brought in by the Farooq Abdullah government with the aim of granting proprietary rights to occupants of state land in lieu of charges. The money thus generated was to be used for setting up hydroelectric power plants in the erstwhile state.
However, the scheme was disbanded after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court declared it illegal and directed the CBI to investigate the beneficiaries of the scheme.
In November last year, the Jammu and Kashmir administration named former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah in a list of scheme beneficiaries and alleged a residential house in Jammu was built on illegally-possessed land.
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