Farooq Abdullah’s ’Jammu and Kashmir should go to hell’ remark sparks row

mangaloretoday.com

Srinagar, Dec 13, 2023: National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday sparked a row with his remark "Jammu and Kashmir should go to hell", made outside Parliament.

 

"Jammu Kashmir jahannum me jaye (should go to hell). What else should I say? You (central government) have taken the state there. You want to win people’s hearts. How will you win hearts if you do things that draw people further away?" Abdullah could be heard saying in a video.

Abdullah’s remarks came a day after the Supreme Court upheld the 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The National Conference leader’s comments drew a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP’s Shehzad Poonwalla in a tweet spoke against Abdullah’s remarks and demanded that the INDIA bloc condemns the comments too.

"After DMK demanding self determination now Farooq says this! Merely because SC upheld abrogation of 370 which has ended politics of parivarvaad and pathar baazi and pakistan parasti! This is INDI alliance true face! They want 370 back & they don’t care about J&K at all," Poonwalla said in a post on X.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya also took a dig at Abdullah over his remark on Jammu and Kashmir.

In another video shared by news agency ANI, the National Conference leader reiterated his remarks and said, "You indeed are taking it (Jammu and Kashmir) to hell. Nothing is being done for ’heaven’...Tell me what is being done for heaven?"

He further questioned why elections were not taking place in the state. "You say terrorism has been eliminated, but is that the case?...You (Central Government) are not winning our hearts. I told the PM clearly that you don’t trust us and we don’t trust you," he said in the video.

"The Prime Minister replied that "Dil ki doori aur Dilli ki doori ko door karna hai." But has the distance been reduced till date? This is not our fault. We have been standing, and we will stand with this country as long as we are breathing. We will stand with no other nation. But respect us too, try to win our hearts too," Abdullah said.

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the abrogation of Article 370 and ordered assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September-end and restoration of statehood "at the earliest".

The five-judge bench delivered three concurring judgements upholding abrogation of Article 370 that provided a unique status to Jammu and Kashmir when it acceded to the Union of India in 1947.

Courtesy: India Today