Farooq hits out at BJP over 'normalcy claims', says killings won't stop until 'justice' is served
Jammu, Oct 17: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lashed out at BJP over its claims of normalcy post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said the killings will never stop until "justice" is served.
Abdullah, who is a Member of Parliament from Srinagar, said had the situation been improved on the ground, another innocent Kashmiri pandit would not have been killed.
"It (killings) will never stop as long as there is be no justice," he told reporters in a brief interaction when asked about his reaction to the latest target killing of a Kashmiri pandit by militants in Shopian.
Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by militants on Saturday outside his ancestral house in the Chowdhary Gund area of the south Kashmir's district, where he had gone to look after his orchards.
Abdullah did not elaborate what "justice" he was talking about, but he was apparently referring to the restoration of Article 370 abrogated by the Centre.
The National Conference chief had gone to Reasi to express condolences with his party colleague and former minister Jagjeevan Lal on the demise of his sister, and the family of former bureaucrat Babu Lal who had recently passed away.
"They were making noises that this (terrorism) was the result of Article 370. Today, there is no Article 370 but why such killings are then taking place and who is responsible?" Abdullah, a former J-K chief minister, said.
The BJP-led government at the centre abrogated Article 370, providing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
The National Conference, along with four other parties including the PDP, are fighting for the restoration of the special status under the banner of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).
"If the situation had improved (as claimed by the BJP), this innocent pandit would not have been killed. Where is the improved situation as I don't see it," he said.
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Mamata’s decision not to quit part of her protest against Centre, EC: Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision not to quit after her defeat in the assembly polls, calling it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission of India.
Talking to reporters, Raut asserted that it is necessary to unite against the “dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission”. He said the poll body has become “slaves” of the Centre.
The Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, he said.
“Mamata Banerjee is not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy,” Raut said.
It has to be seen what direction the agitation takes, he added.
Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”, Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign as chief minister.
The BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule. Banerjee dismissed the outcome as “engineered” and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP. The TMC could only manage 80 seats.
In a post on Facebook, Raut said Banerjee’s decision not to quit is fully justified. He also sought to draw a parallel with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.
The then Chief Justice of India had observed during hearings on petitions seeking the disqualification of rebel MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena that Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the party at the time, could have been reinstated as chief minister had he not resigned, Raut said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called up Banerjee after the polls and extended support. Almost all INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support to her.
“We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government,” Raut said.
He claimed that even many in the government do not agree with the “degradation of democracy”.
