Farooq urges voters to defeat divisive agenda of BJP, PDP

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 18

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah, who is undergoing treatment in London, today appealed to the people of Jammu to “defeat the divisive agenda of the BJP”.

“Vote in large numbers and defeat the divisive agenda of communal parties like the BJP, who are hell-bent on destroying the secular fabric of the state,” Farooq said in a fax message from London.

He said the huge voter turnout in the ongoing Assembly elections was an indication that people in Jammu and Kashmir don’t support the communal agenda of any party.

“Political parties like the BJP and the PDP don’t want an everlasting peace in Kashmir. They are trying their best to muzzle the voice of Kashmiris,” said the former Union Minister.

Farooq said those talking of safeguarding the rights of people, were the ones instrumental in eroding the autonomy of the state.

“Over the years, our constitution was eroded. Important constitutional positions like Sadr-i-Riyasat, a separate passport from Lakhanpora to Ladakh and many other constitutional privileges were eroded by these very people,” the veteran leader said.

Farooq alleged that the BJP strictly followed a “communal agenda” and said the saffron party in connivance with the PDP tried to “set ablaze” the whole state during the 2008 agitation.

“The BJP and the PDP pitted people of Jammu against Kashmir against each other and flared up the communal tension in the state in 2008. It was because of these parties that the relations between the traders of Jammu and traders of Kashmir witnessed bitterness,” Farooq said.

Emphasising the importance of Article 370, Farooq said: “Those daydreaming about revoking Article 370 from the state should know that it is the foundation and basis of the relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country and no power in the world can revoke it.”