Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Sept 30: Senior National Conference leader Mustafa Kamaal today took a dig at the party's coalition partner Congress for criticizing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his recent remarks about the state's accession with union of India.
"Nobody can shut the mouth of others for speaking truth," Dr Kamaal, who is also the brother of Union Minister and NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, said.
Sham Lal Sharma who is the minister of PHE and Flood Control Sunday criticized Omar Abdullah, saying said such statements were 'damaging' and didn't serve any purpose.
"Mr Abdullah is creating uncertainty by challenging the accession of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union," Sharma said while addressing a function of lawyers and advocates in Jammu.
The issue of accession was raised by a various members of Kashmir legislature on the first day of autumn session.
National Panthers Party (NPP) member Haresh Dev Singh interrupted Kamaal who shouted back, "The Chief Minister has spoken truth about the state's accession with India. Nobody can stop him from speaking truth. Either you know fully about the Article 370 and accession or keep silent," he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah skipped the first day of state legislature which was held in Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar.
"Article 370 of the Constitution was because of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah which was to safeguard the minorities. The article has been weakened and now majority feels insecure," he said.
However, BJP leader Jugal Kishore demanded that Article 370 should be scrapped for overall development of the state. "This article has not addressed the issue of unemployment in the state. Our youth are moving outside the state for employment," he said.
Awami Itehad Party president Engineer Rashid said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said in the UN that all issues, including the Kashmir, will be resolved with Pakistan.
"If we demand scrapping of Article 370, let us implement the UN resolutions passed in the Security Council on Kashmir," he said. |
