Asks PM to connect Valley with rail
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 24: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove Article 35-A and Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
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He said the Prime Minister should make efforts to unite the people of the country instead of dividing them.
“Let him be as powerful as he (Modi) likes, he cannot remove Article 370 and Article 35-A (from the State of Jammu and Kashmir),” Dr Abdullah told reporters here.
“Our right of Article 370 and Article 35-A should be protected. This is very important for us. We are soldiers of this country not enemies of this nation,” he said.
Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament’s power to make laws concerning the State. Article 35A empowers the State Assembly to define ‘permanent residents’ for bestowing special rights and privileges on them.
Farooq urged Modi to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country through rail network.
The NC chief said his party will provide autonomy to all the three regions of Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu after winning the Assembly polls.
Farooq appreciated Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for continuing with his agenda of unity and diversity.
“Winning and losing are part of life. Rahul Gandhi after five years will make a comeback and I don’t think that people of Amethi will forget him. I think he (Rahul) will sit down and introspect as to why this happened and how to ensure Congress becomes stronger,” the NC chief said.
To a question about talks with Pakistan, Dr Abdullah said if the Prime Minister wants to save the nation, he needs to be in friendly terms with our neighbours.
There are no roads, water, electricity in Pakistan and similar is the situation in India, he added and said, “we must think of making the nation developed.”
“Nobody can progress being an enemy rather they (Centre) have to find out a solution with the Pakistan,” said the former Chief Minister.
“If we want to make India a secular and developed nation, we have to be on the same page and save the nation with development and progress by leaving aside the gun culture,” said Dr Abdullah.
Dr Abdullah asserted that his party will form next Government in the State
“We are hopeful of forming next Government in the State,” he said on his arrival from Srinagar after again being elected as Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Parliamentary constituency.
“People have given us the three Parliamentary seats and showed faith in us. National Conference will keep their trust and always stand by them,” said Dr Abdullah.
To a question on BJP claim to form next Government in the State, Dr Abdullah said, “it is not for the BJP to decide but for the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, who will choose their next Chief minister.”
On alliance with the BJP, he said, “don’t you want NC to form Government on its own? We will form our own Government in the State.”
Congratulating Dr Farooq Abdullah on the victory of National Conference in the Parliamentary elections, provincial president Devender Singh Rana said this reinforces people’s immense faith in his and Omar Abdullah’s leadership.
“Dr Sahib is a towering leader, not only of the country but of the subcontinent as well, whose contribution has been gigantic in improving the condition of the people and strengthening bonds between different sections of the population”, Rana said.
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