Govt is spreading hatred against Muslims, says Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and president of opposition National Conference (NC) Farooq Abdullah on Saturday accused the government of spreading hatred against Muslims by hamming up the recent terror attack at an Army camp in frontier Kupwara district.

“This government has an ulterior motive to spread hatred against Muslims. Twenty-six CRPF jawans were killed in the Naxal attack at Sukma but they are more troubled by the attack in Kupwara where three jawans were killed,” he said. He alleged the Kupwara incident was being overplayed and the people of Kashmir being painted in bad light “in order to cater to their own constituencies”. He said, “This perhaps is their new tactic to spread anti Kashmir, anti Muslim hatred among Indians.”

Abdullah who was speaking at a party workers meeting here while comparing the airtime dedicated to two recent encounters at Kupwara and Sukma on many news channels said, “Media is doing a great disservice to Kashmir and it’s people by showing disturbing visuals on their prime time shows. This will inevitably stop people from coming to Kashmir this summer”. He alleged, “They want to finish our tourism and I see that they are working overtime in installing fear among potential tourists.”

He asked the people of the State irrespective of their religion, creed, caste to unite and defeat the forces hell-bent in destroying the communal amity among different regions and religions. He asserted that the need of the hour is to defeat those forces which are “openly espousing hatred and sowing the seeds of communal discord in the State.  He said, “I call upon all those who want to see a prosperous J&K and believe in brotherhood to come forward and reject the politics of communal polarization that has taken deep roots throughout the country.”

He reiterated his demand that meaningful and result-oriented dialogue should be immediately resumed between New Delhi and Islamabad and also between New Delhi and stakeholders within Kashmir to find a lasting and just solution to the Kashmir issue. He asserted, “You cannot freeze the political issue while our children are being robbed of their future.Both New Delhi and Islamabad owe us a responsibility to resolve this issue as per the sentiments and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir – first and foremost”. He added, “A continued failure by the two neighbours to resolve the Kashmir Issue has inflicted unimaginable pain and misery on the people of Kashmir, especially its youth.”

He further said, “New Delhi should rise above ideological politics as statesmanship was the need of the hour and stop stereotyping Kashmiris within the narrow contours of a regressive ‘nationalism versus anti-national’ narrative. The political problem in Kashmir is far too complex for such broad stroke definitions and merits an open-ended, well-intentioned political engagement with all stakeholders including the leadership of  the Hurriyat Conference.”

Condemning the recent ‘spate of excesses’ against youth in the Valley, the NC leader who was recently elected to Lok Sabha in a by-poll said, “It is high time that this government understand that the policy of repression unleashed on our youngsters and students will result in further alienation among the youth. It has not worked in past and will surely not work now and not in future”. He said that the sensible thing was to do away with anti-youth posturing and policies and accused the Mehbooba Mufti government of “brining us to the precipice of turmoil and unrest.”