The Abdullahs have long used Jammu and Kashmir as their cash cow, which must be milked to the hilt. The abrogation of Article 370 has made the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah all but redundant as far as the politics of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned. In a shocking statement which is nothing short of treason, Farooq Abdullah in an interview said that he is hoping that Article 370 will be restored with the help of China.
At a time when our soldiers are braving the harsh winter to protect our borders at the Eastern LAC in Ladakh against any Chinese aggression, Farooq Abdullah has come up with a shocking statement which is no less than an act of treason.
The senior Abdullah while speaking to India Today, stated that “Whatever they(China) are doing at LAC in Ladakh all because of the abrogation of Article 370, which they never accepted. I am hopeful that with their support, Article 370 will be restored in J&K.”
The fact that Abdullah is openly calling for Chinese intervention in India clearly amounts to treason. To make matters worse, Abdullah is not only the former Jammu and Kashmir CM, but also the current Member of Parliament from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.
Abdullah has had a chequered journey, from acting as a Pakistan’s parrot in India, the former CM of J&K is now becoming a Chinese lackey in the wake of the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.
It is pertinent to note that earlier in August, Farooq Abdullah and his National Conference in a joint statement with the CPI(M), PDP and the INC pledged to “tirelessly struggle” to restore Article 370 in Kashmir.
The joint statement said that the six political parties would, “tirelessly struggle to get back the special status and restore the Constitutional guarantees forcibly taken away from J&K”.
The joint statement which is now known as the Gupkar declaration was nothing but a desperate attempt to internationalise the issue of Kashmir. The statement further read that all the political activities in the Union Territory will now be focusing on the “sacred goal of reverting to the special status of J&K as it existed on 4th August 2019”. The statement also labelled the move as “unconstitutional” as it read, “The series of measures undertaken on 5 August 2019, was grossly unconstitutional and in reality measures of disempowerment and a challenge to the basic identity of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The measures attempt to redefine who we are. These changes were accompanied by repressive measures meant to silence people and coerce them into submission, and continue unabated.”
The statement concluded by stating, “We are committed to strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir and the restoration of the State and any division of the State is unacceptable to us. We unanimously reiterate that there can be nothing about us without us.”
There are no prizes for guessing who else wants to internationalise the issue of Kashmir. Unsurprisingly, Pakistan welcomed the joint statement with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi terming it as an “important development”.
In the recently concluded session of Lok Sabha, Abdullah who on the floor of the house had advocated for talks with Pakistan has a long history of siding with Pakistan on Kashmir.
In April last year, when PM Modi stated that the Abdullahs would never be allowed to break the country, Farooq Abdullah yet again showed where his true allegiance lies as he claimed that “J&K should have gone to Pakistan”.
“It was not he (PM Modi) who took Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of the country. It was the Abdullah (referring to his father, Sheikh Abdullah) who put Kashmir, which should have gone to Pakistan to India,” said Farooq Abdullah. He also added that PM Modi is living in a fool’s paradise by thinking that he can remove Article 370 and 35A.
It seems that the Modi government’s swift decision to abrogate Article 370 and 35A has scared the living daylights out of the senior Abdullah and hence he is finally showing where his true allegiances lie.
More worryingly, the Indian National Congress is in an alliance with the Abdullahs and till date hasn’t condemned Farooq Abdullah’s constant anti-India statements. The grand old party’s silence indicates that it backs Abdullah’s world view on Kashmir.