Kashmiris cautiously watching 35-A case : Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

‘Want to see stable and prosperous Pakistan’

5 Dariya News

Srinagar 27-Jul-2018

People of Kashmir are cautiously and carefully watching the events around 35A as it comes up for hearing on August 6 in Supreme Court, said Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while addressing the Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid Srinagar.He said that in 2014, the “RSS-backed” non-governmental organization 'We the Citizens filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the validity of article 35A. “The agenda behind this petition is no secret and is well known. It is part of the BJP RSS plan/motive of changing the demographic nature of Jammu and Kashmir by doing away with the hereditary state subject law of the state and flooding it with people from India,” he said.“This is being done so that J&K can be fully integrated and assimilated with India, its disputed status completely undermined and the issue of settlement of this dispute in accordance with the wishes of its state subjects as guaranteed by UN and ratified by India and Pakistan, dissolved forever,” he added.According to a statement issued to GNS, Mirwaiz said that “naturally Kashmiris will not take such machinations against them lying low and will oppose them tooth and nail”. “People will hit the streets and resist it forcefully. 

The resulting consequences will entirely be the responsibility of those who will force people to take drastic steps,” he said.Mirwaiz said people of J&K were “first tricked” into an accession limited to three things with the democratic promise of a plebiscite and then year after year every vestige of sovereignty comprised and snatched from them, till things have come to such a pass where people of J&K have been reduced to subjects and J&K ruled as “a colony of India where GoI does as it wills with scant respect for the concerns of its inhabitants”.Hurriyat (M) chairman said tinkering with 35-A is part of this colonial approach to Kashmir and reiterated that people of J&K are simply asking for their just right of the settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the democratic tradition of self-determination. “We once again appeal to GoI to give up its obduracy and settle this dispute in keeping with this democratic tradition rather than resorting to coercion and use of force,” he said.Speaking on the Pakistan elections and formation of new government, Mirwaiz said that people of Kashmir want to see a stable and prosperous Pakistan and are hopeful that under the leadership of Imran Khan who looks likely to form the government, Pakistan will prosper and realise the dream that ‘Quaid-e-Azam’ Mohammad Ali Jinnah had seen for it.Mirwaiz said that people of Kashmir have always wished for good relations between India and Pakistan and are hopeful that if both countries sincerely decide to resolve Kashmir dispute, this wish will become a reality and people of the subcontinent can live in peace and prosperity. (GNS)