New Delhi [India]: Following the furore over his "let Jammu and Kashmir go to hell" remark, National Conference chief and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah issued a clarification saying that his party would not align with any other country and the central government must demonstrate respect for Kashmiris and strive to win their support.
Responding to a question about the Supreme Court's decision on the abrogation of Article 370, Abdullah vented out his frustration, stating that Jammu and Kashmir should "go to hell."
"You indeed are taking it to hell. Nothing is being done for 'heaven'...Tell me what is being done for heaven? Elections are taking place everywhere. What is our fault that it is not being held here? Which other state was turned into a UT? Didn't you make it hell? You say terrorism has been eliminated, but is that the case?...You (Central Government) are not winning our hearts," Abdullah told ANI.
Referring to his previous meeting with Prime Minister Modi, he said that the Centre should try to win the hearts of Kashmiris to build trust between the Centre and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"I told the PM clearly that you don't trust us and we don't trust you. So how do we build that trust? PM 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 not stand with any another country, but at least respect us, try to win our hearts. This is why I used these words. I am clarifying," he added.
He concluded by saying, "If they (Centre) have to make heaven out of hell, they have to understand the people."
While talking to reporters, Farooq Abdullah said, "Let Jammu and Kashmir go to hell...They betrayed people. They want to win people's hearts. How'd you win that if you'd do such things to push people farther away?"
Earlier in the day, coming out in defence of Jawahar Lal Nehru after the BJP blamed the country's first prime minister for decades of violence and instability in Jammu and Kashmir and the special constitutional privileges for the erstwhile state under Article 370, NC stalwart claimed that the former was in the US when the special provision was brought.
The former Jammu and Kashmir CM claimed then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and saffron ideologue and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee were involved in the process of according special constitutional privileges to the erstwhile state.
"I don't know why they (BJP) have so much venom against (Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru. Nehru is not the one responsible (for providing special status to J-K under Article 370). When this article (370) was brought, Sardar Patel was here (in Parliament) and Pandit Nehru was in America. When the cabinet meeting (on the imposition of the special constitutional provision) took place, Syama Prasad Mukherjee was also party to it. It was at this meeting that the decision was taken," the NC stalwart said.
The apex court, while upholding the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in a landmark ruling on Monday, set a deadline of September next year for the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and hold elections there.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and blamed him for Pakistan's illegal occupation of a portion of Kashmir, known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Shah was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
—ANI