Farooq warns IIOJK precedent could be repeated inside India under BJP rule
New Delhi: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has said the reconstitution of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories in 2019 had wider implications and that the BJP would repeat such moves in Indian states if it stayed in power.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Abdullah made the remarks at a function in New Delhi, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders in attendance.
The event came a day before the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Abdullah said the developments in Kashmir had wider implications for India’s own federal structure. “Look at Jammu and Kashmir… A state converted to a Union territory, completely against the fundamental laws… and they are going to do this with [Indian] states also, be sure, if they remain in power,” he said.
The NC chief said India’s diversity could survive only if states stood together.
Abdullah also renewed his demand for restoration of statehood, saying the Union territory arrangement had left the elected government with “hardly any powers” while authority rested with New Delhi.
He also challenged the Nodi government’s development narrative, asking, “They may say we will be the third biggest economic power… but we still feed nearly 80 crore people with free ration. How will we become great?”
Pointing to the July 20 police action against students protesting in Delhi, Abdullah said the “brutal treatment” meted out underscored the need to resist what he described as “dictatorial policies”.
