Farooq says stone-pelters fighting for nation, slammed
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and opposition National Conference (NC) president, Farooq Abdullah, has said that the upcoming bypolls for Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats presented “a historic opportunity to fight against the wave of tyranny, majoritarianism and fascism sweeping across the country”.
He was also quoted by a news agency as saying that those who pelt stones are just fighting for the nation, and have nothing to do with tourism.
As per the wire report, he said, “Our fight is against those who want to divide us on the basis of religion. I want to tell Modi Sahib that tourism is our life, no doubt about that, but a stone-pelter has nothing to do with tourism. They (stone-pelters) will risk starvation, but will throw stones for the nation— that’s what we need to understand."
Mr. Abdullah while addressing a series of election rallies said that Kashmir’s very survival was at stake and this was “our collective moment of reckoning in a battle of dignity, honour and prestige”
He asserted, “This is no ordinary election where two parties contest against each other based on their particular ideologies. This election is a war of survival between fascism and dignity – between BJP’s cultural and tyrannical onslaught on one end and Kashmir’s collective honour and prestige on the other end. We are fighting this battle against those forces that have defamed our youth, robbed them of their dignity and eyesight and attacked our cultural and religious legacy of tolerance and co-existence”.
He alleged that the PDP’s alliance with the BJP had brought the state at the crossroads of political suppression and uncertainty as basic liberties and rights of the people had been unofficially suspended under a chronic anti-Kashmir agenda that has been harboured by the RSS ever since 1947.