SNS KASHMIR
Banihal/Jammu, Nov 24:
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday asked the Center to restore Article 370 and resolve the Kashmir issue, saying if it wants to “keep Kashmir”, people want the return of “our identity and honour” and That too with interest.
Addressing a public meeting in Banihal’s Neel village, he also said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir “decided our fate with Mahatma Gandhi’s India, who gave us Article 370, our own constitution and flag” and (Nathuram) cannot live with Godse’s India.
Mehbooba asked the people to stand united and “strengthen their voice for the success of their struggle in support of restoration of the special status guaranteed by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and protecting the identity and dignity of the people”.
“We have decided our fate with Mahatma Gandhi’s India who gave us Article 370, our own constitution and flag. If they take everything from us, we will also take back our decision. They have to think whether they will Jammu- Wanting to keep Kashmir with them, they have to restore Article 370 and resolve the Kashmir issue.”
Mehbooba said, “People of Jammu and Kashmir cannot live with Godse (assassin of Mahatma Gandhi) India.”
He insisted, “We want Mahatma Gandhi’s India, the return of our identity and honor which was given to us by the Indian Constitution and I am sure he will have to return it with interest as well.”
Noting that history is witness to the fact that no powerful nation has ruled the people with guns, he said, “You can’t keep Kashmir with sticks or guns (on people’s heads)?? Superpower America failed to rule Afghanistan on the strength of his own power and had to leave the country.”
Without naming the BJP, the former chief minister said, “Some of our own people get angry when I demand peace in Jammu and Kashmir and talks with Pakistan to resolve the issue. They call me anti-national and anti-national. “
“Today they are also talking to the Taliban and China which has illegally occupied our land in Ladakh and also settled a village in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
However, Mehbooba said that if people unite, it is not a big deal that we will not succeed in our goal (reinstatement of Article 370 and resolution of Kashmir issue).
“It took 200 years for India to get freedom from the British and 70 years for BJP to unconstitutionally remove Article 370.
We may take 70 months but we will force the Indian government to not only return Article 370 but also solve the Kashmir issue, for which our youth made many sacrifices and filled the graveyards with their bodies.”
Seeking people’s support, Mehbooba said that she does not bow down before anyone but ‘what if I do not bow down before anyone, unless I get the support of all of you.
“You have to support my voice and I need your blessings too. If we don’t raise our voice today, the time will come when people will say that this was a place that was once inhabited by Kashmiri Muslims, Gujjars, Bakarwals and Pahari people. The location was there. As others will be settled here,” he said.
“There is no election today and I am not asking you for votes. When election time comes, vote whomever you want to vote for. I want your support for PDP so that no 18-month-old baby can come. Don’t be compelled. Road again to search for your father’s body,” he said, referring to protests by family members of civilians killed in a controversial gunfight in Hyderpora area of Srinagar on November 15.
However, Mehbooba defended joining hands with the BJP to form the government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was done to protect our honor and prevent them (BJP) from touching Article 370.
“As long as our government was in power, they didn’t touch Article 370. The day it fell, they abrogated it (Article 370). We controlled them like a father who gave himself up to save his family. Pushes before the bear. We have sacrificed ourselves. To protect our identity,” he claimed.
He accused the BJP of polarizing the country and dividing the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the lines of caste, creed and religion.
“After the PDP and the National Conference, they are ready to split the Congress into two groups – one that lives in its pocket and the other outside it,” she claimed, in an apparent reference to the recent developments in the National Party. Many of its senior leaders and workers, considered close to former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, resigned from party posts in revolt against J&K Congress chief GA Mir.(PTI)