SRINAGAR – After meeting with party President Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah, National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi, in an exclusive interview with IANS, said that political participation by the NC is ruled out at a time when the entire leadership of the party is detained.
“It is preposterous to talk about any kind of political process at this juncture when the entire leadership of the National Conference and all other political parties like the PDP and leaders like Sajjad Lone and Shah Faisal have been detained,” Masoodi said.
He said the government is inciting people to resort to violence and stone pelting by not appreciating the “dignified and non-violent” response shown by the people of Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
“How painful it is that the responsible government leadership is downplaying the kind of protest that is taking place in Kashmir, they are inciting people to resort to stone pelting and violence, they don”t appreciate that across the valley people are protesting in a very dignified manner in a Gandhian way of non violence,” Masoodi said.
“They are saying that not a single bullet has been fired, I want to ask, what do you mean by saying that? Do you think that bullets are the only indicators for a protest? Do you downplay and ridicule the Kashmir protests which are taking place without any call from anybody? They don”t understand this new kind of protest in Kashmir, indirectly they are telling people your protest will not be registered unless it is accompanied by violence.”
He said he and fellow NC MP Akbar Lone were seeking a meeting with detained party chief Farooq Abdullah for last two weeks to seek instructions from him on how to legally respond to his detention order.
“We are still examining how to counter the detention of Farooq Abdullah legally, we need further consultations and meetings with Farooq Abdullah in this regard,” he said.
Masoodi said the father-son duo is in good spirits and prepared to fight for restoring the rights of the people no matter how long that takes.
“Initially there was a sense of betrayal and letdown but now there is a firm resolve to secure the rights of the people unmindful of how long it takes,” Masoodi said, adding “I hope Farooq Abdullah rises to the occasion, he is alive as to what kind of assault has been made. He is alive to his duty and moral obligation he owes to the people.”
Masoodi said all the Kashmir-based parties and leaders have to come together to chalk out a common strategy after they are set free to deal with the evolving situation.
“The entire Kashmiri leadership will chalk out the future strategy after the detained political leadership is set free and the leaders get an opportunity to sit together. We are confronting issues which are of a grave nature,” Masoodi said.
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