New Delhi: Shortly after Jammu & Kashmir National Conference said it would contest the upcoming assembly elections on all 90 seats as some of the constituents of the Gupkar alliance are targeting it, the party patron chief Farooq Abdullah said the party had not decided on the same and such a move would depend on Centre's clarification on what it meant by inclusion of non-locals as voters in J&K.
Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Farooq said the party's provincial meeting in Srinagar on Wednesday was held against the backdrop of the latest announcement to include non-locals into the electoral roll.
"We are a democratic party and we share and discuss all the problems and try to come to a solution only after resolving all the disputes. So this statement that NC would contest all the 90 seats on their own is an issue shared by some of our party workers. But the main issue still revolves around the latest announcement to include the non-locals into the electoral process which is unacceptable to us", said Farooq.
Asked to clarify whether or not his party would fight the polls independently, Farooq said the issue would be discussed only after the Centre clarified what it meant to include all the non-locals in the election process in the upcoming elections. "They are saying that 25 lakhs new voters would get included Into this but who all will it include", Farooq said.
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With a sudden uptick in the militant attacks especially against the minorities including Kashmiri Pandits, non-locals and security officials, a new wave of insurgency is being observed in the erstwhile state with a fresh revamp into the recruitment into these terror groups being observed, the Union Territory now has been facing a new challenge on how to stop these recruitments which have been going on in dark and secret as experts review.
To this, Farooq said that an atmosphere of "fear is being observed here". "We are seeing a sudden surge in these militant attacks targeting Kashmiri Pandits, non-locals labourers and security officials. So this announcement to include non-locals in the electoral process might put their lives in danger. The Union Government should think before enacting or implementing any such rule here," he said.
The NC patron reiterated that India should engage in dialogue with Pakistan. "We have been talking with China. 16 rounds of talks have happened between the two countries despite the fact that nothing significant has been achieved. Then why not with Pakistan? The Government should understand that Kashmiris are being killed here every day and to stop this, peaceful talks should prevail otherwise this brutal trend would continue," he said.
"The Government talks about Dogras, Hindus and all this is being done in order to create chaos. This is a political gamble played out by the Centre. Now, you tell me what would happen if lakhs of non-locals would suddenly come here and cast their votes. This would shed away the identity of Dogras, Muslims and in totality the Kashmiris. We will never accept this and I would urge all the Kashmiris to come forward and cast their votes in maximum strength. This is the only way to restore democracy here," he said.
To a question over the statements by the LG Manoj Sinha that there is normalcy in the valley and that tourism and other sectors are growing up, Dr Abdullah replied that "Then why is that that nobody wants to invest here despite the fact that Centre has been continuously saying that foreign investors and others would set up their industries here which would give a boom to the employment. Has any foreign investor invested here.? The Government is only aiding a few of its handful people who are making huge sums of money here but what about the locals of J&K."
