Demanding that J&K’s statehood be restored immediately, former CM Farooq Abdullah said Wednesday that the 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 was “illegal” and “unconstitutional” and emphasised that the distance between Delhi and Kashmir “has never reduced”.
At a public meeting, organised by the Forum for Human Rights in J&K, in Delhi, Abdullah, who is also the NC president, said, “Whether it is Article 370 or statehood, the basic issue is that the distance between Delhi and Kashmir has never reduced. From the day we became part of India, that distance has only grown. There is no trust — there is no trust in the Muslim.”
On the demand for statehood, he said: “We are not here to beg. It is our right as Indians. Restore our statehood. What you’ve done is unconstitutional. The governor himself said he didn’t know the law — is this how you dismantle a state?”
“Today, we are looked at through the lens of what language we speak, which religion we belong to. This is not my India. Despite sharing a religious identity with Pakistan, we chose Gandhi. I wish those leaders could rise from their graves to see what India has become…” Abdullah said.
J&K Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary described the region’s current status as: “India calls J&K its head — but that head has suffered a serious injury.” “I still don’t understand under what law a state has been turned into a municipality,” he said.
Referring to the Supreme Court judgment upholding Article 370 abrogation, Congress MP Manish Tewari said, “The SC said the proper procedure was not followed in removing Article 370, but still upheld it… This is a judgment that needs to be reviewed.”
CPI(M) leader Yusuf Tarigami said, “What is the condition of our Assembly? On July 13, the CM was locked up. The homes of elected representatives were bolted. Has such a thing ever happened anywhere else?”
