National Conference Party President Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday tendered unconditional apologies to Ghulam Hassan Mir, minister for agriculture requesting him to burry ‘hatchet’ in the larger interests of public.Dr. Farooq was addressing a joint NC-Congress public meeting in Baramulla after the NC-Congress Coalition candidate Sharif-ud-din Shariq filed his nomination papers from the Baramulla-Kupwara Parliament Seat.According to Reports Dr Abdullah did not elaborate anything about the differences between Mir and the National Conference. However, in a veiled reference to harsh allegations leveled by his brother Dr Mustafa Kamal against Mir that he (Mir) was allegedly funded by army to destabilize Omar Abdullah government, the NC patron said that Mir should forget the past bickering, if any, and think about strengthening the future relations. He also requested Mir to support the coalition candidate Shareef-u-Din Shariq.Dr Abdullah said that he won’t allow PDP and BJP to toy with the future of our State and will foil their attempts to dilute the special status of this State for their ruthless, personal political ambitions.
Dr. Abdullah said that Jammu & Kashmir - its land, its identity and its future belongs to the people of J&K and National Conference will continue to advocate the empowerment of our people in New Delhi with the same sincerity and resolve as our MPs have demonstrated in the Parliament.He observed that BJP holds J&K's special status against the people of this State and is hell bent on harming our unique constitutional status based on the irrevocable Article 370 of the Constitution of India. “What is unfortunate yet predictable is that PDP has jumped into Modi's lap to help him in this plan by tactically campaigning for and supporting BJP candidates in Jammu and Udhampur Parliament Seats.”Dr. Abdullah said that National Conference has always endeavored to fulfill its promises to the people of J&K. “It was NC that fulfilled its promise of passing the Autonomy Resolution in the State Assembly and it was none other than BJP that rejected the Autonomy Resolution during the NDA rule. It was around the same time BJP facilitated the launch of PDP in J&K to dilute and fragment the voice of the people of J&K. PDP obliged BJP then and is obliging BJP now in BJP's perennial intention to dilute the State's special status.”
He said that it was the National Conference Government of 1996 that started a corrective era of reconstruction and reconciliation in J&K after the Mufti-Jagmohan duo had wrecked havoc with the State through their policy of barbaric oppression, wanton massacres and anti-people conspiracies.Dr. Abdullah said that it was the Omar Abdullah-led NC-Congress Coalition that worked for reconciliation in the State by having a policy of involvement, engagement and amnesty despite serious hurdles and realities in the State. The NC-Congress Coalition has ensured the unprecedented equitable development of all three regions of the State of Jammu and Kashmir without any prejudice of religion, caste, region or creed.The NC patron said that PDP believed in manipulating democratic avenues to create political space for itself even if that meant working against the interests and aspirations of the people they allegedly claim to represent. Dr. Farooq Abdullah asked the people to understand that the forthcoming elections is a direct contest between secular forces and communal pisive forces and they should vote in large number for the NC-Congress Coalition Candidates to protect the secular ethos of not only the State but also the entire country.
The NC and Congress leaders were given a rousing reception after reaching the venue of the public meeting and slogans were raised in favor of the NC-Congress Coalition. Dr. Farooq Abdullah also addressed an impressive workers' meeting in Zadibal Constituency and asked the workers to work with utmost dedication and passion to ensure that the BJP-PDP nexus isn't allowed to make any inroads into the State and the NC-Congress Coalition Candidates return to the Parliament with huge margins.Meanwhile, Sharif-ud-din Shariq was accompanied to the DC Office by Senior Leaders including Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Professor Saif-ud-din Soz, Taj Mohuiddin, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Nazir Ahmed Gurezi, Nasir Aslam Wani, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Mir Saifullah, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Javed Ahmed Dar and Qaiser Jamshed Lone.