Farooq Abdullah again advocates for early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan

Veteran politician and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday wondered why there was a delay in holding Assembly elections in the Union territory and said it was time to have an elected governmentIn an interview to PTI Video Abdullah the 85yearold Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar said that when BJP leaders announce publicly that they will win 50 seats in elections what prevents them from holding the democratic exerciseAbdullah who talked about a range of issues again advocated for early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan for ensuring lasting peace in the subcontinentThe National Conference president also spoke about the countrys decline on various fronts such as human rights issue growing religious intolerance and corruption saying all these things dont augur well for this great nationOn the delay in conducting Assembly elections Abdullah said as far as the government goes it has been saying all the time that conditions are alright hereIf the conditions are alright then what prevents them from holding elections After all we are living in a democratic country and for so many years we havent had an elected government We have a lieutenant governor with advisors and he cant meet the problems of people it has become a bureaucratic governmentIt is time for an elected government he saidAbdullah said he had raised this issue with the opposition parties and they have done what best they could Finally it rests with the Election Commission We made a representation and opposition parties have also pressed for holding elections It is now up to them to decideI cant understand if they want to hold panchayat elections and hold other elections in J and K why not the general elections to the Assembly What prevents them from doing that he askedAbdullah referred to a statement made by BJP Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravinder Raina in Anantnag earlier this week that there were chances of his party winning more than 50 seats in the Assembly elections and forming its government There are 90 seats in the Assembly following a delimitation exerciseNow if they BJP are so sure of winning what prevents them from testing the electoral waters Abdullah said while making it clear that no one in this country is able to understand the reason behind the delay in holding Assembly electionsAlso readFarooq attacks Centre for not holding G20 meet in Jammu criticises settlement of nonlocalsAsked whether the situation was conducive for holding the elections Abdullah said Well they say there is a lot of tourism the situation is very good So what they say I dont want to say anything else to that That is why I say if the situation is so good why not hold elections What prevents themPressed again on whether the situation has actually improved Abdullah smiled and gave a cryptic reply That is a million dollar question and a million dollar question is very difficult to answerReferring to the recent visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardaris visit to Goa to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO Abdullah said It is a very good move He has come because we are neighbours and we have problems and together we have to sort them out I hope that the government will also respond in a similar manner and try to find better methods of peace between these two nationsTo a question that Pakistans intent on pushing terrorists has not shown any decline he said terrorism continues to be a part of this tragedy and it hasnt endedThe government used to shout that probably this Article 370 was responsible for this terrorism For the last three years there is no Article 370 terrorism is still there rather it is increasing So there must be some problemwhatever they may say finally we have to talk to our neighbour and find a just solution to the vexed problem that has been there for the last 70 yearsIt has created bitterness in communities it has created bitterness in everything and unless we find a solution this tragedy will continue Abdullah said Article 370 was scrapped on August 19 2019 and the state was downgraded and bifurcated into two Union Territories with Ladakh being carved out of the erstwhile stateOn holding G20 meetings he wondered why Jammu was not chosen as a venueMy point was simple that if the same G20 meetings could be held in Kashmir and Ladakh then why not Jammuall these years Jammu people blamed leaders from Kashmir of neglecting them but today its the BJP government at the CentreSo why it Jammu is not the venue Maybe some things could have improved there as well he saidAbdullah who represented India at the United Nations along with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was leader of the Opposition feels bitter over the antinational tag that is often attached to himTruth is bitter and when they dont want to listen to the truth they try to put all the labels on you that they think will stickthey will always call us Pakistaniswhen we tell them the truth we are either terrorists we are either communal or we are Pakistanis Thank God they have not pinned us to China This is their way of doing things They dont want to listen to the truth Abdullah saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever