Leave Politics, Lead Militants Instead, BJP Tells Farooq Abdullah

Accusing National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah of instigating Kashmiri youth against the country, the J&K unit of BJP on Sunday asked him to leave politics and lead the Valley’s “militants” instead.

He was referring to Farooq’s Friday statement that dubbed the present turmoil in the Valley as new generation militants’ “fight for freedom”.

Gupta lashed out at Farooq, lamenting that such a provocative statement has been made by a person who has been the Chief Minister of the state and a Union minister too.

His statement proves that Farooq is responsible for the present state of affairs in the Valley that started when he was the state’s Chief Minister before 1990, the BJP leader said.

The BJP spokesperson said the NC president is speaking out of “sheer frustration” as his party and his son Omar Abdullah were dethroned by the people “because of their malpractices, corrupt administration and anti-people policies.”

He said Farooq’s outburst is aimed at recovering the lost ground to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Gupta sought to remind Farooq that “the NC members in the Constituent Assembly of India had agreed to be the part of the Indian Union, while the Delhi Accord of 1952 and the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution had confirmed the state's accession to Indian Union,” the BJP leader said.

He added that after the 1974-75 Accord between Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah that installed National Conference in power, the fight for Azadi and Farooq Abdullah’s support to it becomes absurd.