PM’S all-party meet shows no result on ground: Farooq
SRINAGAR: A month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to mainstream leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Sunday that there has been “no follow-up results” on the ground.
Adbullah said this in reference to the prime minister’s remarks at the June 24 meeting in New Delhi that he wanted to win the hearts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and remove “Dilli ki doori” (the distance from Delhi) and “dil ki doori” (distance between hearts).
“That was a welcome statement but there is no effort on the ground to win the hearts of the people. People continue to be locked up and dissent is not tolerated. We want to see the change on the ground, a visible effort to win back the people who went through the trauma of their state being dismembered, its special status removed in one sudden blow,” the three-time former chief minister told PTI here. “...we are yet to see any follow-up results even after a month,” he said.
“Trust is something that has been missing from both sides (Delhi and Srinagar). Successive prime ministers -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- made promises but the trust deficit has persisted,” he added.
The veteran leader said that he and his party had attended the Delhi meeting because it was an invitation from the PM although he had no expectations from it.
‘Sustained Indo-pak dialogue needed’
Addressing party functionaries at two separate meetings at Laamad and Devsar in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the Srinagar Lok Sabha MP asked both the countries to be consistent, coherent and serious in their nascent engagement.
He asked the two countries to ensure that the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh live a life free from “unending miseries”. He emphasised the need for a result-oriented dialogue between the two countries.
Stressing there is no substitute to dialogue, the NC president said the recent moves and the messages indicating a thaw in the relations between the neighbouring countries.
“For the entire chest-thumping, both the countries cannot win a war against each other. The sooner both the neighboring countries realise the ground reality the better.
“The more serious, coherent and consistent both the nations are in settling all outstanding areas of disagreements, the better it will be for early return of lasting peace and stability to Jammu and Kashmir and the region,” he said.
Emphasising the need for a result-oriented dialogue between the two countries, Abdullah said it will benefit the people of Jammu and Kashmir the most.