Chief Minister and National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah Saturday alleged that Peoples Democratic Party and Bhartiya Janta Party were two sides of the same coin and both parties were inherently opposed to Article 370.Addressing various public meetings in Beerwah on Saturday, Omar said, “While Mufti Mohammad Sayeed eroded Article 370 from 1953 to 1975, Modi wants to abrogate it and both Mufti Sayeed and Narendra Modi had similar intentions as far as Article 370 is concerned.”“I am amazed that Mufti Sahab can openly talk about Article 370 when it was none other than Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who played a very important role in the erosion of Article 370 when Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was languishing in jail for 23 years. Is it not a fact that Mufti Sahab was part of the pliant Governments in J&K that eroded Article 370 and was even a Cabinet Minister in one such Government that signed orders eroding Article 370? It is a historical fact that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has pioneered some of the worst political constitutional erosions when it comes to J&K’s special status.
How can a man who till yesterday portrayed Article 370 to be the mother of all evil be someone who talks in favor of Article 370 today? This inherent hypocrisy and irony is a typical example of what PDP is all about,” Omar said.He said National Conference stood in unquestionable defense of Article 370 ever since the Constituent Assembly succeeded in incorporating Article 370 in the Constitution of India with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. “Article 370 was a fruit of Sher-e-Kashmir’s struggles and vision to protect the political inpiduality and stature of Jammu and Kashmir and he spent twenty three long years in prison for these ideals. Somebody should ask Mufti Sahab where was he for those twenty three years? What was he doing? Which puppet Governments did he support and what did those Governments do to Article 370? The day Mufti Mohammad Sayeed answers these important questions, we will allow him the unquestionable liberty to wax eloquent on Article 370 but until then his rhetoric is an insult to the collective memory of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, the NC Working President said.
“I assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that their interests and political rights will be safeguarded from BJP and its proxies like PDP within the State and that we will script history in the ensuing Assembly Elections by emerging triumphant just like we did in 1977. We have thousands of sacrifices behind our backs and we are emboldened in our resolve to stand up for the honor and dignity of our people when BJP has launched an all-out offensive to trivialize, humiliate and stereotype the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.Addressing the public meetings in Beerwah, Omar said that the overwhelming response shown by the voters in favor of National Conference in the first two phases of the elections was an early indication of a historic win that will act as a death blow to those evil forces who stand on our threshold with intentions to rob us of our history, our culture and our political identity. Senior NC Leaders Professor Abdul Majeed Mattoo and Nazir Ahmed Khan Gurezi accompanied Omar Abdullah during his campaigning in Beerwah and also addressed the gatherings.