Srinagar: Asserting that People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) continues to “strive for restoration of Article 370”, National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said that each alliance constituent “is run by a separate system” but they are united for restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.
“As far Articles 370 and 35A are concerned, we are all united and there are no differences on that,” Abdullah said.
When asked whether any “tangible action” was taken by the political parties with regard to their pledge to restore Article 370, Dr Abdullah said: “We are awaiting the court decision but the hearing has not been scheduled yet. What can one do? We want to resolve the problem not by throwing stones but through the Gandhian way,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah said as a Member of Parliament, it was his duty to raise problems and issues faced by the people with the government.
Abdullah was addressing mediapersons at NC headquarters Nawa-e-Subha after a party function on Tuesday.
When asked to comment on the exercise of Delimitation Commission, Abdullah said: “They have not spoken to us yet and there has been no communication yet. When they (Commission members) had come here, we were told it was a preliminary exercise.” However, he added: “We have to be part of it but no discussions have happened yet.”
The former Chief Minister of J&K said “devising divide and rule policy” has existed for a long time, adding that it can be countered “by being united”.
“They want Muslims to be divided so that they can have a say. This divide and rule policy has existed for quite some time and will continue. We need to face it and unity is the only way in which we can defeat these people,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah said that youth should explore new avenues so that menace of drugs can be overcome. “We all must get together to work for a way out. If we don’t, we will all witness destruction. Youth today want to stand on their own feet and to have avenues which we need to explore. If we don’t do that, the menace of drugs among youth will witness a further increase and create more problems,” Abdullah said.
Commenting on the recent decision on disengagement of ICDS employees, Abdullah said: “We (during our tenure) provided jobs to people so that they can sustain. It is not that we indulged in corruption or took money. We opened jobs for people to find a livelihood for them so that they don’t get involved in immoral acts,” said Abdullah.
He said the “decision of LG administration to disengage the ICDS employees was a wrong one. This is a wrong thing to do. Their bread and butter have been snatched, where will their children go and how will their ailing families survive? What has happened to the promise of the government to provide 50,000 jobs? Instead of employing people, they are busy snatching livelihoods, which is wrong,” says Abdullah.