Statehood cornerstone of party’s ideology, says Sajad Lone

Naseer A Ganai

Srinagar, April 14

Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) chief Sajad Lone on Sunday said the restoration of the statehood was corner stone of the Peoples Conference’s ideology.

He said he has full faith in his people. “We will be victorious, and they (National Conference) will face defeat. After their defeat, the NC leader should consider a career in fiction writing,” he said while describing National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah’s allegation of the PC being proxy of the BJP as a fiction.

When asked how he sees NC’s decision to field Omar Abdullah as candidate from North Kashmir, he said, “I was expecting a Kashmiri to contest from Kashmir. Instead, we have a tourist, but that’s not an issue for us,” Lone said.

“We have been victims of the BJP and NC alliance. During that era, my father was assaulted. At the time, Shiv Sena was their ally. There was a Shiv Sena leader from Maharashtra, Kalka ji Maharaj, who was given Z security by Dr Farooq Abdullah, (the then Chief Minister) in Jammu. He had roughed up my 72-year-old father,” Lone said.

On April 2, 2002, Lone’s father, Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone was roughed up and heckled by Shiv Sena leader Kalka Ji Maharaj when he (Abdul Gani Lone) was talking to media persons after addressing a press conference at K C Residency hotel in Jammu.

Lone said the National Conference introduced POTA in J&K when they were allies of the BJP, and Omar Abdullah as foreign minister would cover up human rights abuses happening in Kashmir. He said the National Conference set up the task force in J&K.

“I am among the majority who have been tortured, jailed, and lost loved ones—my father was killed. They are the minority who sent people to jail, booked people under the PSA, and ordered shootings, leaving every village with graves. They have no right to sermonise me; their hands are stained with blood, not ours.”

When asked about his meeting with BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh, he said, “Show me proof if I have met him.” “Ten days ago, I heard that Omar Abdullah met with Amit Shah pleading for help to save them from the cricket scam. Prior to that, Farooq Abdullah sought the Union Home Minister’s support.”

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#Jammu #Kashmir #Srinagar