On Wednesday, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah reiterated his stand that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) did not belong to India and added that India should give up its fight to acquire it.
Kab tak begunahon ka khoon behta rahega aur hum ye kehte rahenge ki wo hamara hissa hai? Wo inke baap ka hissa nahi hai. 70 saal ho gaye hain. Wo Pakistan hai, ye Hindustan hai aur 70 saal se ye usko haasil nahi kar sake. Aaj kehte hain ye hamara hissa hai: Farooq Abdullah in Uri pic.twitter.com/iabCHWaFCC
— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2017
"For how long will innocent blood continue to be spilled as we say that it is our land? It's been 70 years. That is Pakistan, this is India. India hasn't been able to acquire the land in 70 years. Today they say 'it is our land'," Abdullah said.
"So take it (PoK), we are also saying please take it (from Pakistan). We will also see. They (Pakistan) are not weak and are not wearing bangles. They too have atom bomb. Before we think about war, we should think how we will live as humans," he added.
The National Conference leader's remarks come just days after he kicked up a firestorm with his remark that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was not a part of India. His comments drew the ire of the BJP and a case was also filed against him in Bihar.
Addressing party workers in Uri area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district, Abdullah said: "A case has been filed against me. That too by a Muslim. May God protect him. Look at his situation, he does not know Kashmir. He does not know our situation. They (Pakistan) drop a bomb, common people and soldiers die in Kashmir and when a bomb is dropped from here, our people and soldiers also die in PoK."
He also said he hoped a day would come when people would move freely across the Line of Control (LoC). "A day will come when you will cross the Line of Control (LoC) in such a manner as if going from one house to another. Have belief on this that such a day will come and without that, there would be no peace in this country," he said.
"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and we do not any certificate from any person on this," he said.
The NC president also said the time had come to start "reversing all central laws that were extended to the state after 1953 in continuation of the spirit of the state's unique political arrangement with the rest of the country".
File image of Farooq Abdullah. Reuters
He said the "erosion of the state's autonomy is the genesis of the political problem in Jammu and Kashmir and created a sense of disenchantment and disillusionment among people".
"The restoration of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir is non-negotiable," he asserted.
The former chief minister sought to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his Independence Day speech where he underlined the need to embrace the people of Kashmir. "Modi should now take concrete steps to engage with the people of Kashmir with full dignity and respect for their sentiments in a sustained effort to resolve the Kashmir issue."
On 11 November, Abdullah claimed that PoK belonged to Pakistan and "this will not change".
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also dubbed talks of an independent Kashmir "wrong" since the landlocked Valley was surrounded by three nuclear powers: China, Pakistan and India.
That remark was made after Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called the idea of an "independent Kashmir" unrealistic.
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi responded to Abdullah's remarks by stating that the National Conference president "talks irrationally sometimes".
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar then criticised Abdullah and stated that Kashmir was an integral part of India.
"This has been our unequivocal stand on the issue. We hold that the whole of Kashmir, including the areas occupied by Pakistan, is an integral part of the country," he said on the sidelines of his weekly "Lok Samvad" (public interaction) programme.
With inputs from PTI
Published Date: Nov 15, 2017 06:59 pm | Updated Date: Nov 15, 2017 10:30 pm
