Abdullahs: Centre turning blind eye to ground realities

Former Union minister Farooq Abdullah, and his son and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, alleged on Thursday that the BJP government at the Centre was turning a blind eye to the ground realities in Kashmir, and that it continues to look at the political situation in the state through a security prism, which is fraught with dangerous consequences.

The two leaders, in a joint statement issued here, also expressed serious concern over the escalation of tension and hostility between India and Pakistan, and said that the initiation of meaningful dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad was imperative to prevent the two South Asian nuclear neighbours from treading a perilous path.

The Abdullahs said that their NC joined the people of the state in expressing serious concern over the escalation of tension and hostility between India and Pakistan, and the ramifications of this situation on peace and stability in the region. “We are equally concerned about the absence of any meaningful political initiative from New Delhi to deal with the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” they said. “Unfortunately, despite the alarming situation in J&K and the horrifying human costs of this current unrest, New Delhi continues to look at the political situation in the state through a security prism,” they said.

Farooq Abdullah is the president of the National Conference, the main Opposition party in the state, and his son is its working president.

“Unfortunately, despite the alarming situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the horrifying human costs of this current unrest, New Delhi continues to look at the political situation in the state through a security prism,” they said.

“Recent indications of New Delhi taking steps to increase military presence and re-establish military camps and bunkers in Kashmir have augmented the sense disaffection and skepticism in the State. These security measures cannot be alternatives to a political initiative,” they added.

The Abdullahs asserted that multiple visits by Union home minister Rajnath Singh, as well as the visit by the parliamentary all parties’ delegation, yielded no result and failed to create a conducive atmosphere for the initiation of a sustainable and meaningful political process. “Similarly, a joint outreach by a delegation of Opposition parties from J&K that called on the President and the Prime Minister in New Delhi, in addition to other national leaders, has also failed to convince New Delhi about the sensitivity and urgency of the evolving situation in J&K. Even suggestions to take certain basic, interim measures to deescalate the situation in J&K — while contours of a larger initiative are conceived — have been summarily ignored,” they said.

“With more than eighty young boys and girls having lost their lives, numerous youth permanently blinded and more than thirteen thousand having been injured — such blatant disregard for the current situation in J&K is extremely unfortunate and tragic. This indifference and perceived insensitivity can have serious long term implications,” they further said.

They alleged that New Delhi’s “refusal” to take concrete and visible steps to address the internal dimensions of the political issue in J&K, even within the often articulated “framework of the Constitution of India” has become a diplomatic weakness that is exploited time and again at various international forums. “Lack of a structured and sustained bilateral engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad over the last few years has also created a gaping political vacuum that threatens peace and stability in the region,” the Abdullahs said.

“The current policy of dealing with the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir operationally is a reiteration of the tried, tested and failed formulations of dealing with an inherently political issue through military and administrative means. Mass arrests and widespread curbs in the State will only deepen the sense of alienation among the youth and take us further away from the goal of peace and reconciliation,” they added.

The Abdullahs hoped that New Delhi would acknowledge the “unaffordable costs” of ignoring the political issue in Jammu and Kashmir which “are primarily to be borne by the people of the state”.