The National Conference claims that the current Lok Sabha elections and the following Assembly poll to safeguard Article 370, and Article 35-A .National Conference vice president and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited militancy-hit Shopian in south Kashmir and said they are contesting the Lok Sabha polls not for development but for safeguarding the Article 370 and 35A. While addressing party workers at Circuit House Shopian, Omar said this year's election is different from earlier elections in which developmental issues like construction of roads, providing of electricity and portable water were the main agenda. In the current election, less focus is on these issues because BJP, which has no major role in Kashmir, has changed the agenda for us. In every rally and speech they repeatedly threaten to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A," he said.
"Be it BJP president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or their other leaders, they all are threatening people of Kashmir in their speeches with abrogation of special status of the state," he said. Omar said the threats bother him because Articles 370 and 35A are concerned with identity and future of Kashmir. Whatever the state achieved so far was by virtue of the existence of these Articles. The land reforms, which were carried out by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, were seen only in the state because we had a state subject law which was later changed to article 35A," he said adding if the state subject laws are repealed it would again turn Kashmiris into tillers and people from outside the state would be the masters of the land.
Omar warned that any attack on the Articles 370 and 35A would reverse back the situation to pre-1947 era. This election is fight for safeguarding Articles 370 and 35A. We have been fighting this battle in Assembly, on streets, in court and now we have to fight it in parliament," he said and urged people to vote for NC's Hasnain Masoodi. Had the people been hooked by Article 370 an d Article 35-A they would have not have stayed inside their houses on the polling day. Whether the candidates belonged to NC or the PDP people went under the direction of the separatists. This way people were moved by the instructions of the separatists and not by Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, the tallest leaders in Kashmir. |
