While expressing grief over the loss of lives and alarm over the worsening situation in the Valley, National Conference President Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said it was important for New Delhi to acknowledge that the genesis of the Kashmir turmoil lies in the injustice of August 1953 when a popular, democratically elected Prime Minister of J&K was illegally overthrown to suppress the political sentiment in Kashmir.
In a statement issued to KNS, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said while it was heartening to see that certain central leaders in New Delhi were now talking about the political nature of the problem, it was a pity that the same leaders chose to not lend their voice of support when the Interlocutors' Report and the Sagheer Committee Report was available for discussion and implementation.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah said those central leaders in New Delhi who are advocating a political solution to the Kashmir Issue today have traditionally acquiesced with the conventional, tried and tested formulations of an operational handling of the issue. “Their stand today is welcome and a positive development and I hope they don’t go back to the conventional policy of validating an operational handling of the issue when seeking a political resolution might become less expedient for them”, Dr. Farooq Abdullah stated.
“Every phase of political unrest in the Valley – including the current one – is a manifestation of a prolonged, systemic erosion of faith in Kashmir. What happened on the Ninth of August, 1953 continues to remind the people of Kashmir about how New Delhi has chosen to either suppress the political sentiment here or deal with it through an operational prism with a perpetually short-sighted, fire-fighting policy. Unless the root cause of the political instability and alienation in Kashmir is addressed constitutionally and politically, crushing the sentiment by use of force is not only futile but also highly counterproductive”, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah, while welcoming parliamentary discussions on the current situation in Kashmir said the Parliament needs to acknowledge and understand the root cause of alienation and unrest in the Valley and accepting the criminal nature of the injustice perpetrated against the people of J&K on August 9th, 1953 would be a good start to an open-ended, broad-minded introspection at the national level. (KNS)