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| Mr Farooq, Jammu & Kashmir is not Ireland | | Secessionism in London | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 13: NC president Farooq Abdullah has come out with another divisive solution to the do-called Kashmir issue. He has demanded Ireland-type solution and that too at far off London. He has said that the solution he has put forth must by supported by at least 70-80 per cent majority.
"Pakistan and India must realize that there is no military solution to the problem. Like Ireland, the only roadmap forward is two Kashmirs with an easy border and autonomy. Kashmir can be solved if both these nations, now nuclear powers, realize that whatever solution has to emerge, everybody will not accpt it. But at least 70-80 per cent of people of India, Pakistan, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh should accept it," said Farooq Abdullah while speaking during a discussion organized by South Asia Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London on Thursday.
The Ireland-style solution refers to Common Travel Area shared between the UK and neighbouring Ireland, dating back to the 1920s. Under the arrangement, citizens of either country require minimal identity documents to travel through each other's territories.
Earlier, Farooq Abdullah's son and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah had also expressed almost identical views. He had said: "The State can never be independent and will always remain under Indian sovereignty. Britain's Northern Ireland peace process and devolution in Scotland could 'inspire' a future settlement. Jammu & Kashmir is 'landlocked and lacks natural resources', and, hence, cannot become independent. But the peace process in Northern Ireland and the devolution in Scotland could 'inspire' a future settlement in which 'sovereignty is not threatened but you recognize the nationalist sentiment that exists and you evolve that".
Omar Abdullah had expressed these divisive and provocative views during an interview to the United Kingdom newspaper.
In 1998, London and Northern Ireland had clinched a deal over power-sharing government after prolonged violence and the devolution in Scotland under which London established a Scottish Parliament invested with powers to make laws on various issues.
The views of Omar Abdullah have evoked strong reaction in Kashmir as well as Jammu for different reasons. In Kashmir, the separatists had rejected the suggestion of Omar Abdullah, with the likes of Syed Ali Shah Geelani saying they will not accept anything short of right to self-determination.
In Jammu, a number of political groups, including Panthers Party, had rejected the solution as suggested by Omar Abdullah.
Interestingly, not a single Congress leader or BJP leader either in Jammu & Kashmir or in New Delhi had uttered a single word against Omar Abdullah. The silence of the Congress and the BJP had raised many questions with many observers suggesting that the "their silence means covert support of the party to the Omar Abdullah's highly divisive solution". They have said "by maintaining silence the Congress and the BJP has given a dangerous respectability to the NC's divisive politics, apart from emboldening the Kashmiri separatists of all hues". So much so, they had opined that "the Congress party is directly and indirectly encouraging Omar Abdullah and his ilk to create serious problems for New Delhi in Kashmir" and that "had the Congress party even once exercised its authority, Omar Abdullah would never had made divisive statements".
Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah must not forget that Jammu & Kashmir is not Ireland. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India in terms of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 and the Instrument of Accession.
To challenge Jammu & Kashmir's settled political status would be to question the very existence of Pakistan, which also came into being under the Indian Independence Act of 1947. But more than that, this party of 11 per cent votes can't dictate terms and endanger the lives of the minorities in the state. |
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