We've only acceded to, not merged with India, says J-K CM Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, reiterated on Wednesday that the State has conditionally acceded to India but did not merge with it.

He also said that Article 370 debate as is being demanded by the BJP “can be only about its restoration to pre-1953 status.”

Mr. Abdullah who is also ruling National Conference (NC) working president said that the fact that Jammu and Kashmir “had conditionally acceded to India based on basic, constitutionally validated conditions that were violated by successive erosions to Article 370 through pliant regimes in the State after Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was illegally deposed as its popular and democratically elected Prime Minister and consequently incarcerated for a collective period of 23 years.”

The CM while speaking at an election rallies at Soibugh and Budgam in central district of Budgam said the NC will never give up its demand of reversing the erosions in Article 370 and will keep striving for the restoration of internal autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir. 

He said, “Those entities that are desirous of a debate on Article 370 should read history and know that the State of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India based on basic, constitutionally validated conditions that were put in place by Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah to guard the political distinctiveness of the State and to act as a protection of the political aspirations of our people.”

He added, “The day they realize this fact, they will also know how proud we are of our State’s flag, its constitution and its political stature and how we will defend our political rights till our last breath.”

Mr. Abdullah asserted the NC has never changed its political stand on the Kashmir issue and will never alter its vision for political expediency.

“Let me make it very clear to the BJP, the Congress and the PDP – Article 370 is non-negotiable and the only debate one needs to have on Article 370 is about its restoration to its original, pristine form. I have said this on the floor of the Assembly, I have said this as the elected Chief Minister of this State and I say so today as a proud citizen of this State who will never allow any political force to rob us of our rights”, he said.

The CM also said that those falling over each other to talk about protecting Article 370 are the same political leaders who played an integral role in eroding Article 370 from 1953 to 1975 while they were in the Congress party and while Sheikh Mohamamd Abdullah was in jail for defending the political aspirations of our people.

“I want to ask Mufti (Muhammad Sayeed) Sahib if he is so concerned about Article 370 today, why was he a major player in successive machinations that were launched to erode Article 370? Was Mufti Sahib not a part of the Cabinets in J&K which signed orders making erosions in Article 370? Where was Mufti Sahib’s conscience when he was the face of the efforts by Congress to erode Article 370 in J&K at a time when the founder of National Conference, the democratically elected Prime Minister of J&K was illegally put in jail? I challenge Mufti Sayeed to answer these questions without hiding behind ambiguity and then and only then will PDP ever have a right to talk about Article 370,” he said. 

Lashing out at PDP patron Mr. Mufti, the Chief Minister said, “The people of Jammu and Kashmir remember that it was none other than ex-MP Muzaffarnagar (UP) and ex-Home Minister of India, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed who imposed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in J&K after unleashing the brutality of Governor Jagmohan on our people.”

He also said, “Mufti Sahib, the people of Kashmir can never forget that your hands are soaked in the blood of thousands of our young men. The haunting memories of the Gaw Kadal, Handwara, Bijbehara, Hawal, Pazipora Kupwara and countless other massacres that happened under the tenure of Mufti Sayeed as the Home Minister of India are forever etched in our hearts. Mufti Sahab, the people of Kashmir know that you passed the infamous orders of shoot-at-sight countless times when the Valley rather needed empathy and reconciliation. We know that you ordered separatist leaders to be paraded semi-naked on the airport tarmac to sadistically humiliate them. We know that you turned your healing touch into killing touch and went for the targeted killing of those commanders of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen who had declared a unilateral ceasefire during Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s tenure as Chief Minister of J&K. Mufti Sahib we know your reality, the people of Kashmir know your reality and most importantly you yourself know your reality”, Mr. Abdullah said.